The Dance
by Lilliana Dearing
Summary: This is a new look at how I would have liked Sookie and Eric to have meet. It is a whole new take on them and their world. Sookie didn't meet him right after first meeting Bill, in fact she doesn't meet him until after the take-over and fairy war.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note:

First this is going to be a bit of fluff for Sookie and Eric. If you are a fan of the books please know this is going to be nothing like the books even a little bit. It is in fact a cool dream I had the other night and I figured I would write it up. So to all the reader's please just know this is meant to be just a bit of fun and a better way for Eric and Sookie to have met for the first time in my head. Also I do not own any of the characters from the Southern Vampire Mysteries and I am making no money off of these stories. Although the characters are not mine the story that follows is.

Sorry, I know people have issues with the ooc stuff but as a writer I have to do whatever I can to make the story work. To be honest I feel like this story is my universe and however it takes shape is how it takes shape so if you don't like it I am sorry. Feel free to leave me all kinds of reviews to tell me what you think but know that the writer is the creator of the universe not the reader. I hope you enjoy.

Lilli

-Sookie

Chapter 1

I flopped myself backwards on the couch, I was so worn out both body and mind. My every muscle ached from weariness and my brain felt like it was a kid's juice box and had been sucked completely dry but every keeps sucking and sucking trying to get that last elusive drop. I flick my heels off and rub my feet pondering why I am so tired while I try and massage my sore muscles. A few years ago everything was so normal for me, well as normal as they can be for me considering I am under constant bombardment of everyone's thoughts. Now don't get the wrong idea I am not crazy or anything I don't hear voices in my head that aren't existent, I am just a telepath.

Two years ago everything was so normal for me. Well sort of, I was just a simple bar maid trying to scrape a living and not go to crazy. It's hard to appear normal when the people all around you are thinking some of their most intimate details of their life into your head. It isn't things that they would ever tell anyone but I have more dirt on this town then any gossip columnist has on Brittney Spears. And if I wasn't the good Christian woman that I was half the town would be paying me the big bucks to keep their dirty little secrets quite.

The muscles in my neck pinch suddenly and I let out a little groan. "Sookie?" I hear my room-mate Amelia clattering down the rickety stair case from the rooms she rents from me.

"Hey girl." I say. Looking over my shoulder to see her coming into the room, with Amelia I always have to be so careful to block her out. She is what I like to think of as a loud broad caster. I notice a look of concern all over her face. "Do I really look that bad?" I ask.

"Sookie, I thought you had your shielding thing under control so that you don't read my thoughts anymore?"

"I'm not reading your thoughts girl, just your body language you should see the look on your face."

"Oh," Amelia blushed from her obvious embarrassment at accusing me of dipping into her head. "sorry, you look like shit by the way."

"Amelia Broadway I will not have you talk like that in this house!" She just waved her hands at me as if to wipe the scolding away harmlessly.

"No, really though Sook, you look like shit. You have been through so much shit lately. Why don't you just go get your little hinny into to the tub and I will make you a huge dinner while you're relaxing and then we can just sit and veg in front of the TV and watch some silly movie or something. How does that sound?"

I sighed, I really did need to relax I was going to end up getting a tension headache if I didn't relax soon. "You know what, I think for once I am going to take your advice and do just what you're suggesting. I really do need some time to just relax." I leaned forward to get myself up off the couch and a sharp pain shot through all of my muscles. "Ugh." I grunted.

"Sook, just sit there I will go run the tub and call you when it's done, start your relaxation right now."

"Sure that sounds lovely." I leaned back into the couch and closed my eyes I could feel the pressure building behind my eyes threatening the oncoming tension headache if I didn't do something to change it soon.

"Wow you must really feel shitty, if your letting me run your bath. You are one of the most stubborn people I know even when you are sick. You never let anyone take care of you Sook."

Without opening my eyes and trying very hard not to think too much. "I am just worn down to the bone Amelia. There isn't anything left, I have no boyfriend, and my life has been turned upside down too many times to count lately. Not to mention I have been shot twice, staked, beaten within an inch of my life more times than I can count, I survived a bombing and multiple wars and oh yeah just for good measure I was kidnapped and tortured by my great-grandfather's enemies. These are just some of the highlights of everything I have been through in the last few years. I don't know how much more I can take."

I felt Amelia sit beside me on the couch. "Sook, it will be okay eventually, I see big things for you in the future."

"Do I get shot again?" I laughed and cracked one eye open at her a small smirk crossing my face.

"That's not funny Sook." She had a grimace on her face that stated clearly she was unhappy with me.

I sighed. "Listen, I know it's not funny Amelia, because getting shot effing hurts like a son of a gun, but honestly what am I supposed to do? If I don't joke about it I will just fall apart and then where would I be? I would just be a blubbering mess that no one can stand to be around. Besides, I would take the physical crap any day I just can't …"

"Deal with all the emotional fallout from Quinn and Bill." She said softly.

"Yeah," I whispered. I felt my hot tears start to sting my eyes and I knew that if I didn't stop this subject soon I was going to do the very thing that I was trying to avoid, a complete and utter melt down. "I can't talk about this." I said standing up suddenly trying to be as firm as possible pushing down the sudden waves of torturous pain that is embedded in my soul. I turned and walked quickly towards my bedroom to escape from this conversation.

"Sook." Amelia said stopping me just as I got to the door of my bedroom.

"What Amelia?" I said a little sharper then I meant to be but damn it I don't want to deal with this.

"Sookie you're going to meet someone soon who won't do to you all the wretched and awful things that Bill and Quinn did. Someone who will take care of you and lo.."

I raised my hand to stop her. "You know what somehow I don't think that's ever going to happen Amelia. I'm on my own I am just going to have to learn how to live with that. By hook or by crook I have managed to survive this last few years somehow. I am not going to give in to that stupid little prayer again asking for some _**man **_to come swoop in and rescue me or to sit beside me when I'm hurt, or even to be faithful to me. And most of all, I am not going to fall victim to that stupid idea that someone loves me. It just isn't going to happen, every single time that it does I just get let down anyways so what's the point? It's not going to happen, I would join a convent except that I don't think I could handle not being able to wear my little short shorts to get all that wonderful sun." I tried to turn it into a joke but she was clearly not amused.

I turned my back to her and said softly before fleeing this stupid and anguishing conversation. "I just can't be let down any more Amelia; I just don't think I could survive another betrayal big or small from anyone." I sighed. If she had some clever remark to come back with I didn't hear it, I just closed the door to my room flipped the switch on my stereo and went about running my bath.

-Amelia

I heard Sookie shut her bedroom door, clearly our conversation was over. How on earth was I going to help her get through this? Pondering what to do I decide once again to turn to my trusty cards. Maybe, there would be some new answer's there. I got up off the couch and went towards the staircase that leads to my part of the house. I paused for a moment in front of Sookie's room; I could hear her crying on the other side of the door. Damn it, this sucks. I was just about to knock on Sookie's door when I heard her flip on her stereo. She clearly needed to be left alone for the moment.

Right, that's it I am going to find some way to fix this mess for her. I rushed up the stairs quickly and grabbed my lucky tarot deck from my bedside table. I thought about just laying out the cards like I always do but in the past weeks it hasn't yielded me any new answers on how to help Sook. This time I think I needed a little bit of divine intervention to guide my hand's and show me whatever it is that I needed to see in order to help my room-mate and best friend. I flitted about the room quickly lighting candles and incense. I debated on if I should lay out the cards on the floor like I always did or if I would yield more results on the altar. I never laid them out on the alter but damn it I need answers and results quickly.

For weeks I have been seeing the upcoming arrival of Sookie's soul mate but there is always this huge block that keeps them apart. I thought that Sook would be open to this guy and I had tried not to pry too much but after what I had just seen I finally know what the hell the block is, it's Sookie herself. With everything that she has been through in the last few years I couldn't really blame her but I hadn't really realized how bad she was until tonight. Okay divine intervention here we come. I knelt before my alter that I had tucked away, Sookie always got weird about it but being the good person that she is she never out right says anything.

I placed the deck on the alter hoping this would work. "God, and Goddess I call you here to help guide me in my quest protect me and watch over me while I work this spell. I invoke the powers of the North, East, South, and West come forward and watch over me while I work this spell." I felt the snap of power flood my room and encircle me showing me that I could proceed. "God and Goddess, Gods of the North, East, South, and West guide me show me the way to help my friend Sookie. I know you are sending her, her soul mate. I know that you intend for them to be together. I know that this is her reward for all that she has endured but I have seen her heart is blocked and that she won't let him in. Show me the way, how do I unblock her heart and ease her pain enough to accept this man. Please she needs this, I am afraid that she is going to be lost if she doesn't get this. I can see it her heart is hardening you are going to lose your most precious creation if she loses this."

I opened up the deck and slowly started laying out the cards concentrating with all my might on Sookie and her problems and looking for a solution to bring her back to who she used to be. I flipped the first card and there was Sookie an angel sent to Earth to help all. The next card shows her fighting many battles the avenger of justice for all. A pillar of pure good next was her mysterious warrior and soul mate. This man would stand by her side and fight the battles with her, he would hold her up when she was weary and he would love her for all of eternity.

This was all the same as everything I had seen before, I knew what would come next, some block that would keep them apart and ultimately cause Sookie's downfall. Always before it was just some mysterious thing that would block her way to this man but as I brush the deck my fingers trembling when I turn the next card it was another vision of Sookie. This time though not as the strong pillar of goodness but as a broken woman weeping on the battlefield of her heart.

I flipped the next card and there was Bill, clear as day, the monster that started Sookie's downfall. He had done so much to her; he had hurt her so badly time and time again, until she finally had given up and chucked him to the side. But Sookie being who she was would always come back and help him whenever he was in need which only caused her more hurt and broke her down a little more every time.

That is when she met, I flipped the next card, Quinn and he too had betrayed her to the Vampires of Nevada. They had come in and taken over Louisiana in one night and killed almost every vamp in the state. Sookie had lost so many of her friends that night. The ones that Nevada didn't manage to kill fled, including Bill. Sookie had cried for weeks after the takeover. Quinn betrayed her; Bill abandoned her again leaving Sookie open to get kidnapped by her great-grandfathers family to be tortured. Niall had managed to save her but by the time he had reached her the damage was done. She was broken and defeated. She put on a good show and tried to pretend everything was alright but she just wasn't.

Quinn had tried to apologize telling her he had little choice because they had kidnapped his mom but he had directly lead to the death to so many of her friends that even though she understood why he had done it she could never forgive him. When he had flipped out and told her that no one would ever love her that was it. The slow death of Sookie's soul started, she removed herself from the Supe world. She stopped doing her job there and therefore removing herself from her rightful place in the world. The only place she could ever be truly accepted was with the Supe's and Sookie knew this. She just didn't care anymore. The Were's, Shifter's, and Vamp's had just all let her down one too many times.

I flipped the next card and saw that this was the worst thing for her to do; on the horizon was her biggest battle yet. The next card showed me the outcome of this huge looming battle was all dependent upon this mystery man and if Sookie refused to accept him she would lose him and he would lose his life. It wouldn't be until that moment of his death, unless the block was removed, she would realize how much she loved this man. If this happened that would finally break her and send her spiraling down into the abyss that will eventually ether end her life or worse send her working for the forces of evil.

"Well shit," Amelia swore. "Oopps sorry. Okay so what do I do? How do we fix her enough to save her from herself?" I flipped the next card and almost started to laugh it said really clearly. "Well, all you had to do was ask, we will take care of the rest."

-Sookie

I slipped into my room and shut my door behind me just as the traitorous tears started streaming down my face. I heard the squeak of a step and I knew Amelia was just on the other side of the door. I wiped away my tears away angrily, stomped over to my radio that sat on my dresser and flipped it on loudly. "NO SOOKIE!" I whispered to myself. "You have got through this and you won't fall apart now." I pulled my stony walls, that have been my only safe harbor, up and around me reveling in the safeness of keeping everything out. I had this little nagging at the back of my head that somehow that wasn't right.

I pushed that thought away because at this moment I just didn't care. I sunk down in the scorching goodness of my tub it was so hot that it would probably boil me alive but at this moment I just wanted to feel the warmth. I laid my head back in the tub and shut my eyes letting the hot water slowly take away all the tension that I had been holding in my muscles.

Where had my life gone so horribly wrong? How was it that I ended up feeling the way that I do right now? I sighed to myself; it was all that Bill Compton's fault. The very thought of my now missing and very ex boyfriend made my blood boil and my heart break all at the same time. How could I have been so blind so naïve? He had used me, abused me, and thrown me away without a second thought. Then there was Quinn, I had thought for sure this was it this was the guy I was meant to spend my life with. I had often day dreamed that we would have live here in Gran's house raise a family, have grandchildren. Be normal. I had been delusioning myself though. How can you be normal if your husband is a were tiger?

I felt the hot tears start to fall and this time I let them. There was no one here why not cry? Had I even let myself really cry once sense all of this started. God knows I have yet to really even deal with any of it? The war's, the bombing, the killing, the bodies, the gore, the betrayal's and all the times I have been hurt physically to top everything off. The tears flowed faster and faster and for the first time I let myself feel just how hurt I was and I wished truly wished that I had someone who could really love me. Someone who would be there to hold me and kiss me and take away all my pain with just their presence. I really wanted to wish that I could not be a part of this other world, the Supe world, anymore but the moment the thought popped into my head I pushed it away angrily. I belonged to that world. The Supe's they needed me. It seemed like they couldn't make it through one month without having me solve one problem or another. I was like the Supe wonder woman with the special ability to read peoples thoughts, take stupid risks and kick butt all in one day.

Vision's of me flying around in an invisible plane wearing nothing more than a pair of fancy underwear and a corset flashed through my head. I giggled, the more I thought about it the more I laughed. Then I realized I hadn't laughed in so long and it felt so good that I laughed some more. I pictured my boss in his cute collie form at my side biting my enemy's balls off in a single bound. I was practically in hysterics at this thought. I heard a light tap tap tap at my door. "Sook you okay in there?" Amelia's voice floated through the door.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just fine. Everything is okay really." She must have left because no response came back. I realized everything was okay, yeah I had been through a lot but somehow I always managed to get through it. I always had some divine hand watching my back and guiding my footsteps. Sure I had a lot of crappy things happen along the way but didn't that happen to everyone? Somehow other's always managed to get through dealing with ex-boyfriends without having complete and utter breakdowns, granted my ex-boyfriends are a vampire and a were tiger but that's beside the point. And granted they both also betrayed me horribly but again beside the point, I digress, I somehow managed to survive all of these really horrible things and be relatively unscathed by it. Why should I let all of that stuff weigh me down and keep me from living my life?

Well I am sure Bill would just love it if he knew that I was brooding so badly over him that I couldn't function and Quinn would like nothing more than for me to crawl on my knees and beg for him to take me back. Yeah that would happen never, why am I letting these ass holes ruin my life? Sure there was a ton of other interests that I had had that let me down too in some small way or another, Alcide, Calvin, but again what did I possibly have to gain from brooding over what might have been and what was? Why was I not allowing myself to be more open and move on? I shook my head at myself seems kind of pointless when I think about it.

The little voice that had been keeping me down for the last few months tickled at me, what about all the physical injuries that you have dealt with, isn't that worth staying away from the Supe's? Evil Sookie, bad Sookie, the front of my head said. Hadn't I survived all of that stuff, and in reality it could have been so much worse. Sure I had been betrayed a ton of times but that happens a lot to others my betrayals are just on a different level because of the community to which I belong. My physical injuries, well quite simply, I lived through them. Hadn't I got every single one of those injury's in defense of the people that I love even if sometimes that love wasn't true on the other persons part my love for them caused me to rush head long in to danger and do the right thing.

Why was have I been such a whiny woman for so long, why couldn't I just accept my life is what it is? I actually belong to a great community of people, regardless of what others think of the Supe's they are still people, they accepted me for who I am and value me for it. Sure some times that ends up leading me head long in to a dangerous situation but well it is what it is. I can never be a "normal" girl. Hell I can barely stand to be around "normal" people. The Supe community doesn't look at me like a freak because well comparatively speaking I am way more normal than any of them and I am always willing to lay my blood, sweat, tears, and life on the line right alongside there's for them regardless of the effects that it has on me.

I almost kicked myself, I had been pushing those people who actually liked me and accepted me for who and what I was away because of some stupid delusion of the way life is really meant to be. When in fact, for the last two years I was for the first time living in the world I truly belonged and sure it sucks that I had all this really bad stuff happen to me but it's part of the world and just not accepting that world really isn't an option. I am who I am; I am Sookie Stackhouse telepath, friend of the pack, defender of the shifters, ally of the vamps and savior of them all. I had saved them all over and over again and damn it some of them really liked me and I really liked and loved some of them. Now if only I could find myself a good man.

I hopped out of the tub and went about getting myself dressed, I felt better than I had in a long time. My whole body felt lighter and I found myself dancing around my room singing for the first time in ages. A knock on the door about scared me out of my wits. "Sookie, you have a phone call hun, I think it's your brother, you want me to tell him to get lost?"

"Naw Amelia I will be right out."I threw on my large terry cloth robe, the only reminder that I have left of Bill he bought it for me when we were in Dallas I had never had the heart to get rid of it, it was such a beautiful robe, and went to the living room. Evil Sookie choose that moment to pop in my head and say. "You shouldn't talk to Jason he hurt you the most, he made you smash your friends hand he betrayed you time and time again. He has been nothing but horrible to you and you shouldn't have anything to do with him." The thought gave me pause for about ten seconds as I ran this through my head. Yes, Jason had done some stupid things, yes he made me smash my friends hand to bits, yes he was annoying as hell and made me feel awful half the time but damn it he's family. Sometimes with family and even friends you just have to remember their human, (were, vamp, witch you get the idea) too and make mistakes. You just have to move on and get over things and deal. If you love someone you just forgive them there flaws most of the time and move on. Jason was all I had left of my family; I can't stay mad at him forever.

It is with this new resolve that I answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Sookie, listen I know you're still mad at me but my pack master has asked me to ask you, no to beg you to come out to Hot Shot for his wedding. He says that you should be there you are part of this pack even if you don't change forms every month. He says you deserve to be included and most of all deserve to have a good time."

"Jason I…"

But before I could even finish saying sure Jason I would love to come, Jason interrupted me. "Sookie I am so sorry, I know I am a half wit of a brother who has given you nothing but grief over the years and you deserve so much better than me. Sookie you're the strongest woman I have ever met, hell you're stronger than Gran and she had to actually raise me. Your funny and brave and you have risked you neck so many times just to make sure we were all safe. I love you sis please forgive me for every stupid mistake I have ever made. I'm sorry."

I started to cry, again, "Oh no Sookie don't cry please don't cry, damn it I didn't want you to cry I am trying to make you feel better not worse."

"Shut up Jason," that got a stunned silence. "Of course I will come, I would love to come. I am crying because for once it is nice to hear you actually admit when you have been a dumb ass and tell me that I actually mean something to you."

"Oh, well yeah Sook of course you do, didn't you know that I, well you know, you're my sister and I…."

"Yes, yes you love me I know don't give yourself a stroke or something trying to tell me. So Calvin is finally getting married to Tonya, well shoot when is it that I need to be out there?"

"In an hour." Jason replied.  
"What?? Jason you couldn't have given me a little more time than that to get myself together and prepare Jesus Jason." I sighed.

"I'm sorry Sook it's just that well, he did tell me to call you like a month ago but well I have been putting it off because well I was being an ass okay. It will be worth it though if you come, you think mine and Crystal's wedding was huge, the wedding of the Pack master is a really big deal there is going to be all kinds of people here. I think every Supe Community in the area is either sending out rep's or they are coming. I know all of the Shreveport Were's are coming, a ton of different shifters, no tiger's though I promise, plus I think that we are even having the new sheriff of the vamp community come as well. There will be a huge dinner and a ton of dancing and it's going to be a blast."

"Wow, that's insane, I didn't think that all of the communities got along well enough to all gather together like that." I said.

"Well… okay Sookie don't go and get a big head or nothing but it's because of you."

I spluttered. "What are you talking about Jason?! I didn't do anything, I didn't even know about this wedding until five minutes ago how could I have gotten all the various members of the different Supe community's to come together for Calvin's wedding that's ridiculous."

"No, Sookie not that you invited them all and that's why they are all coming it's more like what you set in motion. It's more like because of everything that you have done for everyone and everything that you have been through, you have drawn us all together. We have all fought together and every time it was either in defense of you or because you kicked all of our asses into gear to join whatever cause it is that you are fighting for at the time. You rock, your kind of the…" he paused to think about it for a minute. "Wonder Woman of the Supe world."

Hadn't I had that exact same thought, I couldn't help but laugh. "All right, I guess, wow Jason, I didn't know you were so smart."

"Yeah, well don't go tellin' no one cause you're going to ruin my rep if you do."

I couldn't help but laugh again, "I promise not a word will pass my lips, I will see you in an hour."

"Sure Sook."

"Bye Jay, love you bro."

"Yeah, yeah." He said and laughed.

Funny the way things work, I had just resolved to stop being such an ass and go back to the community that I truly belong to and here it is knocking on my door asking if I want to come out and play. I shook my head and turned around to see Amelia smiling at me. "Hey Witch, wanna go to a party?"

"Don't have to ask me twice telepath." She laughed back.


	2. Chapter 2

Authors Notes:

First, I want to thank my lovely beta for this story. Seastar08, thank you for helping me with the tons of errors that I know were here before you graced it with your presence. Thanks for putting up with my questions and listening to me when I was frustrated. Tons of love girl.

Second, I want to thank all of you who reviewed this story and are encouraging me to continue. I appreciate all of your kind words and look forward to hearing what you think in the future.

Third, a fan addressed some issues they had with the what if's of this story. She was very positive and I appreciated her questions and did my best to answer all of them. The what if's being, how did things go down if Eric wasn't around to save Sookie's butt. Well, in this chapter a lot of these things are discussed. I also leave a lot to your own imagination; draw your own conclusions about things that weren't discussed here. If it is really important I will discuss it at some point in the story. But, only if it is directly related to the plot.

That's all for now, enjoy the chapter. Have fun reading and much love from the West Coast.

Lilli

Chapter 2

Forty-five minutes later, Amelia and I were on our way to Hot Shot both dressed to the nines and looking smoking. She convinced me to wear this little ice blue cocktail dress that I had just gotten, personally, I thought it was too dressy but hell how often does a girl get to slip on a gorgeous dress and know she's lookin' smokin' hot. It was a cute little thing with just the right amount of dip in the front and no back to speak of; the spaghetti straps were a pain in the ass to get into considering there was like twelve of them that criss-crossed back and forth across my back. I was wearing the highest pair of heels I had ever dared to wear, four inch icy blue stilettos, not normally my style, but I just felt like I had to wear them. Amelia threw my hair up in a little French twist with tiny little ringlets scattered here and there to frame my face and we were ready to go. That is how we found ourselves cruising in my car going a little faster than I probably should blaring "I'm walking on Sunshine" on the radio and singing at the top of our lungs right along with the catchy tune.

We got there just in time, there were cars for miles in every direction but fortunately Jason had spotted me pulling through the town and had me park next to his Hot Shot home so I wouldn't have to walk as far.

I got out of the car positively beaming at Jason, I don't know what struck me but I threw myself at my brother and hugged him tight. "Yeah, yeah Sook I missed you too." He gently released me and took in what I was wearing for the first time. "Damn Sook, I am going to have to beat off people all night with you dressed like that."

I slapped his arm playfully. "Stop, I think I can manage a couple of uppity Supes thanks, besides knowing you, you'll have your hands full half way through the reception and I am not talking about with a plate of food."

"Yeah, you're probably right you know me, I'm Mr. irresistible."

I had nothing to say to that, since it was way closer to the truth than any smart-aleck remark I could come up with. Jason kind of has a way with the ladies. We went to the wedding and it was beautiful. Calvin looked truly happy and it made my heart swell with joy at the thought that he had finally found someone who could really, truly, love him.

After the wedding, the reception was jumpin' everyone was having a good time, eating, laughing, and talking. All of the Shreveport were pack was there, and they all came and chatted with me off and on throughout the night. A few different shifters, that I had met here and there over my travels in the community, were there as well, there was even the occasional Vampire, although most of them I wasn't familiar with, since most of my friends were killed during the takeover. Even so, there were a few faces I recognized here and there, including Bubba who they had somehow convinced to sing for everyone. I always love seeing Bubba, and even though he's a little off, he still makes me smile from ear to ear. I looked around and saw that everyone was getting along, there was none of that tension that usually occurs when various members of the Supe community came together, they were all well and truly happy to be sharing each other's company and simply enjoying the occasion.

Half way through the night and I finally got the chance to talk with Calvin and Tanya. "Wow ya'll I am so happy for you. Your weddin' was simply amazing."

"Thanks Sook, I am so glad you could come." Calvin said a large smile plastered across his face.

"Please, it's no big deal. I am just happy I could be here. The turnout is amazing and everything is just perfect."

"Yeah, Sook now if only we could find you a good man to settle down with." Tonya joked.

"Yeah, that would be nice, tall, blonde and dead preferably, got to love those vampire men Preferably someone who is strong, loyal and drop dead gorgeous, loves his mama, and is of course, a great kisser." I winked at her jokingly.

"Ask and thee shall receive." Amelia said in my ear.

I looked at her confused and I noticed that just about everyone at the wedding was all staring at some point behind me. A smile still plastered on my face I turned to see what everyone was staring at, just on the edge of the dance floor, the most handsome man I had ever seen in my life stood. He was tall at least 6'4", very wide in the shoulders, but slender at the waist and his every pore exuded confidence and sex appeal.

One look, and I knew I was dealing with a man who knew he was beautiful and could have any woman he wanted. I felt something low in my body tense and then blushed red at my obvious reaction. As he slowly strode towards me, it felt like he was walking in slow motion to help emphasize every move and twitch of his gorgeous body. Smoke curled around his legs and clung to him grasping at his body like the fingers of lovers desperate for one more kiss. I shook my head, thinking to myself, wait where did the fog and smoke come from? He smiled at me and I thought I was going to swoon, I felt my knees grow week bowled over by the electricity of that smile.

This specimen of supreme manhood stopped just in front of my little group of people. He nodded at us all, but never took his eyes off of me. My heart started to suddenly ache from its frantic racing and I took a deep breath to steady myself. I curtseyed slightly, just a quick little bob my eyes never leaving his. I mentally slapped myself, what the hell, I never ever did that to any vampire before not even the king. That beautiful smile spread across his full luscious lips, and I just wanted throw myself at him and cover every inch of those lips with my tongue and teeth. I bet those lips would be so much better at just kissing. I closed my eyes as I pictured those luscious lips kissing their way down my body. I snapped my eyes open and blushed as I realized I was having a fantasy, about this man I had never even met before and if that wasn't bad enough, he was standing right in front of me. I looked down at the floor in embarrassment and I felt cool fingers gently touch my chin and lift it gently, electricity rushed through me with that small touch I thought I was going to faint.

I looked up into the deep pools of endless blue that were staring down at me, and just looking into those eyes, I felt for the first time, in so long, true happiness. I could stare at his face forever, and I smiled the biggest smile I had in far too long, much longer then I could really remember. I saw him imitate the movement and that made me just feel even happier. I felt like my pores were radiating joy and he was matching it inch for inch and pound for pound. I had never seen a vampire who was so expressive with his emotions before and it stunned me. "Well aren't you sweet." He said his rich voice, which had just the hint of an accent, trembled along my body and made me shiver.

"Not really, I am just a proper southern belle." I said, his smile spreading even further across his face and I couldn't help but to laugh. He had a wicked little twinkle in his eyes, and I knew he was thinking very naughty thoughts, which only caused me to laugh again.

He released my chin and gently took my hand and brushed his lips across the top of my hand never taking his eyes off of me. "Well lady, then let me introduce myself properly, Northman, Eric Northman."

"Is that like Bond, James Bond?" I asked laughing and he responded with a laugh that took my breath away. Oh my god this man was a gift from God. "So, Mr. Northman what brings you here this evening?"

"I have come to bring congratulations from the King to the happy couple, of course."

"Oh, then you must be the new Sheriff."

He raised one eye at me questioningly. "Yes, I am indeed."

"Well hopefully you do a better job than the last guy." Friggin' Bill. I felt a momentary flash of anger go through me and then I buried it down deep inside there was no way I was going to let anything ruin this night, especially not Bill friggin' Compton. It felt like everything was just clicking perfectly into place for me and I was not going to ruin it but succumbing to the doubts and fears that being with Bill and Quinn had instilled in me. This guy was different, I don't know how I knew it but I did.

Eric was watching my face intently and finally said. "Indeed, I have heard that he was not loved by many in this area. I am assuming he has wronged you in some way?"

"Yeah, you could say that but I don't really want to talk about Bill."

He took a step closer to me and I could feel my heart racing again and my breath stopped as he ran a cool finger down the side of my face. "What do you want to talk about my sweet southern belle?"

"Anything but that loser of an ex-sheriff Bill Compton." Although my words are harsh they came out breathy and sweet.

He smirked at me slightly and ran his thumb across my lips lightly I closed my eyes and was thoroughly enjoying his touch. "Such hard words to come from such delicate lips, maybe your right maybe your aren't as sweet as you look. What is your name, my southern belle?"

I couldn't find my voice his words and touch were washing away all of my inhibitions and I was fighting every impulse to keep myself from throwing him down right there in the middle of everything and fucking his brains out in front of God and every Supe in the surrounding area. The fact that I remembered I was in front of about two hundred people shook me back to reality a little I was definitely not behaving very proper if I was not only ready to throw this man whom I had only just met down and fuck him but I had gone and forgotten to introduce myself. I opened my eyes and was lost again in those duel pools of blue. "Stackhouse, Sookie Stackhouse."

He had a look of shock on his face and he raised an eyebrow at me clearly he had heard of me. "Surly you cannot be serious. I have heard many tales of you Miss. Stackhouse of how brave and courageous you are and even that you are a fierce fighter but you are defiantly not what I would have pictured. Yes, I heard that you were very beautiful but …" he let his thoughts trail off.

"Disappointed?" I laughed.

"Oh, no definitely not, I don't think there is anything you could do that would ever disappoint. You are just not …"

"What you expected, I get that a lot especially when I am around the vampires. It always amuses me when I meet someone for the first time and they realize who I am. So tell me Mr. Northman what did you expect?"

"To be honest, Lynda Carter."

I roared with laughter wow, is this like a reoccurring theme for me or what? He looked confused and said. "You know Lynda Carter, wonder woman? The way people talk about you is like you are some kind of super hero always rushing in and saving the day."

I laughed again. "Yeah I know who she is; I just think it's funny. This is not the first time today that someone has told me that. I guess it should be a compliment, I just have a hard time thinking that I am some kind of super hero. I have never really put a lot of thought into the things that I have done for the Supe community, I just do them because it is the right thing to do at the time. Not thinking before I act, has not actually panned out very well," I shrugged my shoulders. "I follow my instincts and do what needs to be done. Sure, it has landed me in the hospital more times than I care to really think about but I have always done my best to save of fix whatever crazy situation that I find myself in."

He shook his head shocked and amazed. "You are very brave." He said softly.

I snorted and he looks amused at my reaction. "More like stupid and gullible but thanks for the compliment.

"Sookie, you should not talk about yourself like that." He said seriously. I was opening my mouth to come up with some kind of witty retort when he leaned in and kissed me. It was soft, sweet, chaste, passionate, and a religious experience all at the same time. It was lighter then the brush of a butterfly's wings, but as powerful as an ocean wave crashing against the side of a cliff. Just as quickly as it started, it ended, and he looked just as breathless as I felt. "Miss. Stackhouse can I have the honor of having a dance with you?"

"Of course." I blushed and looked down at the floor, embarrassed and shy all of the sudden. I was almost intimidated by this man and his beauty, I felt small and insignificant next to him.

He touched my chin again, forcing me to look up into his eyes and said softly. "Don't look down; never look down, if anything I should be kneeling at your feet. You are truly magnificent; I am honored that you will dance with me and grace me with your presence."

Never in all my life has anyone ever spoken to me this way before. I was completely flabbergasted and flattered all at the same time. "Thank you, that was the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me, but really I think that I should be saying the same to you, although I probably wouldn't have put it so eloquently. I am not worthy of such praise coming from such a beautiful man."

He laughed a small little laugh. "You are worth much more than pretty words." He leaned over and gently brushed his lips across my cheek. "Come, dance with me Sookie." He slid he hand to the small of my back and led me away from the small group we had been standing in.

-Amelia

I laughed slightly as I watched my friend get led away by the absolutely beautiful Eric Northman. He wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I thought of what Sookie needs in a soul mate, but I guess it isn't about me, it's about Sookie. Obviously, this powerful and sexy guy was exactly what she would need. Something was telling me Sookie's life was about to be much easier than it had been with this warrior at her side.

"Ummm… what just happened? Did the rest of you feel that magic? Should we be concerned for Sook?" Calvin said his voice was showing that was extremely worried about Sookie.

"No Calvin, you don't have to worry." I didn't really want to explain it to him.

"But Amelia didn't you feel that, what if Sookie is in trouble?" He asked, in a very rushed and worried tone. I know that Calvin cared a great deal for Sookie, and at one point had tried to get her to marry him. He really was just worried about her and wasn't trying to be rude or obtrusive.

I sighed and turned towards him, looking him square in the eyes, so that I would get my point across. "Calvin what you just witnessed was the joining of two souls who have earned the right to have someone love them unconditionally. Their lot in their lives has been so bad that the Gods intervened and gave them exactly what the other needed. You have just witnessed the joining of soul mates. It is a beautiful thing and no matter what you try to do, you will never be able to rip them apart. Heck I don't even know that they could rip themselves away from the each other; since they are both wide open to the prospect of the other. Just look at them Calvin, have you ever seen Sookie so happy and content to be cherished, or have you ever seen a vampire who was so open and honest and openly emotional with a human? They are the exact balance that the other needs in all situations. It's amazing and you should feel blessed that you were able to witness this on your wedding day, of all days. You will probably never see such an obvious work of the Gods first hand as you have here today."

"This is crazy Amelia are you sure, I mean really hasn't Sookie been hurt enough in the vampire world, she has to go and take up with another one?"

"Calvin, you and I booth know Sookie isn't ever going to have that normal life with the picket fence and the 2.5 children. She can barely be around shifters and weres, let alone humans. Just look at her for a moment and tell me what is different about her. Something is missing and if you look real close you can see it and you will have your answer."

Calvin looked at Sookie for a long time, we all did, and we watched her spin around the floor looking up lovingly into Eric's face. After what felt like an eternity Calvin gasped. "She … she…"

"She has no more pain." I said. "It's like that weight that she has been carrying around for the last few years has just been lifted away. Even though it is still there and she knows it, she doesn't feel burdened by it anymore, because she has someone there to truly help her. She doesn't have to be the soul person to bare all of that responsibility anymore because Eric is always going to be there to hold her hand, and be there for her not only in her hours of greatest need, but also every other small moment. She will never be alone again. The most important thing though, if you look closely, all of the pain, sorrow, cynicism, and trauma from the last two years is gone, wiped away. She has a clean slate. This time though, because she has Eric no matter what, she will never have that look, the one we have all seen on her face these past few months, ever again. If she hadn't found him we would have lost her soon."

Calvin looked at me, shocked. "Wait, what do you mean we would have lost her soon?"

"We would have lost her Calvin within the year. She would have stopped caring and she would have died in the line of duty or she would have just stopped doing what she does and moved away so no one could find her, and our world, the world of the Supes, would have fallen without her. Or worse of all she could have ended up not caring so much that she would end up hating us all and being the force to be reckoned with on the wrong side of the war, and with all that she knows it would have been very bad if that happened."

-Sookie

Eric placed his hand on the small of my back and led me out to the dance floor, now at times I know, I get down on myself because I feel like I have no redeeming qualities, and I always have this feeling, that I am really not good at much of anything. But the one thing I know I can do is dance; I have always known just how to move my body to the desired effect. I was one of the few fortunate people who actually are born with natural rhythm. Even if I have a weak partner to dance with I can usually pull off a fairly good show. I peaked over at Eric and wondered if this six foot four man could actually move gracefully.

He lead me right to the middle of the floor just as a song was ending, he slipped his hand into mine and swung me around so that I was facing him. The movement was very fluid and graceful but still that wasn't dancing. I laughed to myself. I was going to give him a run for his money and he was going to have to work to keep up with me. The first beats of Natasha Bedingfields Pocketful of Sunshine came over the speakers and I immediately started moving my hips to the beat. A small smirk curls up the right side of his full lips as I start to spin and twirl around him, I dart in and out to touch his chest, his hips, his face and the whole time his smile just widens and his eyes sparkle like twin suns as he watches me move and bounce the beat. He lets me pull and push and lead him around the floor, as I spin and twirl just for him. When the song ends I curtsy a quick little bob at him and find myself almost disappointed that he didn't participate more, I would have figured him for a take charge kind of guy.

I turned to walk off the floor just as the first notes of Livin la vida Loca came over the speakers he grabs my hand and spins me to him. I look up at him and he strokes the side of my cheek gently, "Now where do you think you're going? You had your fun now I am going to have mine." He laughs a deep toe tingling laugh and starts pushing me around the floor. I wouldn't have thought that he would be one for salsa dancing but the man could move. We flowed around the floor like a stick caught up in the rapids of a river twisting and dipping and twirling in perfect harmony.

I was almost surprised that we moved so well together considering he had almost a foot of height on me but somehow he made it work. It was like we were always meant to dance together we just fit perfectly. I didn't even have to try that hard he was the perfect leader with the slightest pressure of a fingertips I knew exactly where he wanted me to move and what he wanted me to do. Just as the last notes ended he dipped me low and I threw my head back and laughed, if you know anything about dancing having a man who can actually dip you properly is a big deal most of the time they do it wrong and they end up hurting you or themselves. As the last notes faded away into the night a loud thunder of applause broke out all around us. I instantly turned bright red with embarrassment but Eric God bless him looked anything but embarrassed he pulled me up and spun me out and around so that I could face the crowd of party goers and he bowed low while I curtsied to them.

I tried to pull my hand from his so that I can rush off the dance floor to escape the embarrassment that was consuming me, but just as before he spun me into him and the sultry tones of Faith Hill drifted thru the night. I looked up into his eyes, as she starts one of my all time favorite songs but until this moment I really had never truly related to the words of this song. Looking up into the eyes of this gorgeous example of a man I softly sang along to the words as Eric gently pushed me around the floor. "From this moment life has begun." I sang.

"_From this moment you are the one_," Eric sang back to me.

"Right beside you." I sang

"**Is where I belong, from this moment on**." We sang in unison.

"_From this moment I have been blessed_." He sang.

"I live only for your happiness" I sang

"_And for you love_" He sang.

"**I'd give my last breath,** **from this moment on**." We sang in unison again"

I give my hand to you with all my heart.

_Can't wait to live my life with you, can't wait to start._

**You and I will never be apart**

**My dreams came true because of you.**

From this moment,

**As long as I live**

**I will love you I promise you this.**

**There is nothing I wouldn't give**

**From this moment on.**

You're the reason I believe in love.

_And you're the answer to my prayers from up above._

**All we need is just the two of us,**

**My dreams came true because of you.**

**From this moment as long as I live**

**I will love you I promise you this**

**There is nothing I wouldn't give**

**From this moment**

I will love you

_I will love you_

As long as I live

**From this moment on.**

As the last notes drifted into the silent night, Eric leaned forward and placed the most reverent of kisses upon my lips. Every kiss I have ever had had always been dripping with sex or the promise of sex, but Eric's kiss was like a soft prayer offered up to me on a golden tray of love and promise. There was no forcefulness or expectations behind it, just a simple, I have to kiss you to seal in this feeling of complete joy I have, and thank God for you right in this moment for delivering you to me. Warmth spread through me from my head to my toes. I could feel the burdens of my life slowly lifting off of my shoulders and sliding onto his to help me through them. I knew that no matter what he would be there with me to guide me and even carry me whenever I needed.

We pulled back from each other gently neither wanting the kiss to end but both of us knowing that it had to, and yet even though they were no longer touching, I could still feel the gentle and firm press of his lips tingling against mine. I placed my fingertips to my lips and he mirrored my movements it was truly amazing. We just smiled at each other and slowly slipped our hands into the others and lead the other off the dance floor towards a small grove of trees that was just a little ways off in the distance. It was perfect just far enough away that the music and the people were not overwhelming but close enough that the quiet melodies could add to moment.

I stopped and looked up silently at the stars that were peaking through the canopy of trees. "Beautiful." He whispered against my ear as he slid his arms around my waist from behind.

I leaned into his chest and said. "I always love looking up at the stars, there is an infinite number of possibilities. Think of all the wisdom that they have looking down on the millions of worlds that stretch out into infinity. It is awe inspiring."

He kissed my cheek lightly. "I wasn't actually talking about the stars. But those are beautiful as well." I giggled softly and turned in his arms to face him. I looked up into his eyes and I felt just as overwhelmed by them as I did by the stars. An endless amount of possibilities hidden behind those twin pools, all the wisdom of the world trapped behind two shimmering sapphires. Suddenly he swept my legs out from under me and had me in his arms, bridal style. I threw my head back and laughed, what was it about this man, I felt so at ease with him. If anyone else would have swept me into their arms like I was Scarlett I would have been irate, but with Eric it just felt perfect. As if he was reading my mind he said softly. "Perfect." And placed another reverent kiss on my lips, when he pulled away I noticed that he was sitting at the base of the huge oak that we had been standing under. He positioned me in front of him and wrapped his arms gently around my belly. I leaned back into his chest and just enjoyed the silence and contentment of the moment.

"Sookie?" he said gently pulling me out of my quite contentment.

"Hmm?"

"Tell me about yourself, how did you get pulled into this world of battles and monsters?"

I laughed quietly. "Just over two years ago a vampire came into my bar and changed my life. Although to give him a tiny bit of credit, I think that even if the events of that night wouldn't have unfolded like they did, I would have ended up in the supernatural world eventually. As a telepath I was never welcomed in the 'normal world,' regular humans are scared of me and they often think I am insane." I shrugged.

"Why would they think you're insane? I do not understand why would they not accept your gift? You are special they should worship that difference, not condemn it."

"I agree with you in theory, but unfortunately things just don't work that way. Humans are scared of the things that they cannot explain or control. There is no way that they can control the fact that I can see into their heads. I mean most of what I hear is just mundane things, what people need from the grocery store, or what bills they need to get paid before their various utilities get shut off. But I also hear the things most people would never say aloud, sexual fantasies, their various indiscretions, the fact that they're gay or that they sneak away on the weekends and dress in drag at some club, when they are supposed to be on a business trip.

"People are rarely what they appear to be and those that are actually genuinely good for the most part still have skeletons in their closets that they would never share with the world. But, because I can do what I do I know what those skeleton's are regardless of wither someone willing shares them with me or not."

Eric and I sat silent for a moment as he processed what I said. "All right, I see all your points but you still didn't answer my question Sookie. How did you get dragged into the Supe world?"

I gritted my teeth a little just the thought of how it all started irritated me. "Bill Compton." I annunciated each syllable for emphasis. I felt the muscles in my jaw tighten and all the muscles in my body flex and release, that man just got under my skin, even now, being held in the arms of the most beautiful man I have ever seen, he could still invoke such hate in me.

Eric ran his hands gently up and down my arms slowly pushing the stress right out of me, he kissed the top of my head and I took a long steady breath to calm down. "Bill walked into my bar just over two years ago and, to my amazement, not only was he the first Vampire I ever met but his mind was a complete and utter blank. You can imagine that after all of my years being bombarded by everyone's thoughts having someone who was completely silent to me was like a breath of fresh air." I sat quietly reminiscing over that first meeting with the handsome southern gentleman.

I sighed and continued. "I was so flattered by his little crumbs of attention. I had never really met anyone who was genuinely interested in me before that I actually ate up every last bit of it without a second thought about the fact that he might not be genuine. I don't know if it was naiveté, or just the fact that I am so used to being in everyone's head that I automatically know their true intentions, but whatever the reason, I took his words at face value. Regardless, that night I saved Bill from two drainers and I guess the rest as they say is history. After that day my world was always associated with the Supes. Savior to innocent and victim to the rest, on days I am feeling particularly bitter I imagine that I let the stupid Rats drain Bill and that somehow I would have saved myself a lot of heart-ache, not to mention perhaps keeping me out of the Supe world. But I am not so stupid to think that if I had let that happen, that I wouldn't have gotten drawn in anyways, the queen would have just devised another plan. Besides, it just isn't in my nature to let any harm come to someone that is innocent. I don't think I really ever had a choice, there was no way I would have let them drain Bill. Even if I had known everything I knew now, I wouldn't have let them drain him. Hell I saved him from his maker and staked the bitch, even though I knew he had betrayed me by cheating on me with her."

Eric laughed. "So you really did stake Lorena? Did you really get staked in Club Dead as well? Did you really take the stake for a vampire that you had never met before?"

"Yep to both. I killed that bitch Lorena and I took the stake for Betty Joe when the Fellowship tried to kill her. What choice did I have? I knew that they were going to kill her and I knew that even if they succeeded they would have died anyways. Betty Joe hadn't done anything other than be a vampire how could I just sit by and let them kill her? Again no choice there, it's not really in my nature to let someone get slaughtered just because they are what they are. Betty Joe most likely didn't have any choice in the matter of becoming a vampire anymore than anyone else has at least before the great reveal. She's a victim of circumstance just like many others. Bill was a victim because he was a vampire and some greedy human got it in their head that they could make a quick buck off of him. It was easy for the drainers to kill him because in their heads because he isn't a real person as far as they were concerned. But ya'll are just as real as anyone else why should ya'll be singled out just because your different? It isn't any different then slaughtering Jew's simply because they are Jewish or blacks because they are black."

"You amaze me little one." Eric said and kissed my head again.

I shrugged. "If the attitude I have is so amazing it is a sad sentiment on the status of our world. I think that the way I feel is how everyone should feel."

"To true, but not many would literally throw themselves in the line of fire to prevent someone from getting hurt regardless of how they feel about the state of things. So, you saved Bill from drainers, and then later after he betrayed you by cheating on you with his maker, again you rescued him after getting staked for Betty Joe. How did you manage this?"

"Not a stinking clue, I got lucky I guess. The king, Russell, took pity on me and brought me back to his nest and healed me. Bubba helped me scout the grounds while I was laid up waiting to heal once he located Bill I just acted on instinct I got him out but before I could leave Lorena came in and ambushed me and I staked her. That was luck as well I think she rushed me and wasn't paying attention to the fact that I was armed, I got her before she got me. I drove him back to my friends place and that was that." I tensed slightly thinking of what happened after I got him back to Alcide's. I shivered slightly with the memory about how close I had come to dying again.

"I think there is more to this story little one." Eric said rubbing his hands up and down my arms trying to sooth me.

I bit my lip anxiously. I hadn't told anyone about what had happened that day but for some reason I felt like this man deserved to hear all my secrets. "Well, after we got to Alcide's I checked on Bill, we were down in an underground parking structure so I knew that if I opened the trunk that he was hidden and the sun wouldn't harm him. Well," I took a ragged breath and forced myself through the next part as quickly as I could. "Alcide's ex, Debbie Pelt was totally jealous of the imaginary relationship that Alcide and I had made up, so that I could have access into Club Dead to find out where Bill was. Anyways, she shoved me into the trunk and slammed it shut. When Bill woke he…" I felt Eric's arms tighten around me it was like he was trying to protect me from the terrible thing that happened to me. "he was a vampire who had been almost completely drained, starved, and tortured for over a week. He woke ravenous, he almost drained me completely, and then his other hungers woke as well. There isn't anything that could have changed the situation, it happened, as soon as he realized what he had done, he broke us out of the trunk and transfused me. It doesn't really change what happened, but at least he kept me from dying."

"So for the second time in as many days you almost died for someone who betrayed you. Why, I just don't understand?"

"I can't explain it Eric, I felt like I had to, Bill was my first in every way, my first love, my first boyfriend, my first well, just my first. Regardless of his betrayal, he didn't deserve to be tortured just because he had invented the vampire data base, let alone be tortured by someone he had love for. It wasn't right, so I did what I had to. That and the queen asked me to, well more like she threatened me, but I would have done it anyways, without the threat."

"What about all the other things I hear about you, all the wars you fought in to help us, the shifters, and the weres, did you really do those things? What about Rhodes? Did you really rescue not only humans but Vampires in Rhodes after you had already gotten yourself out? Did you really save the King, even though he had come in and wiped out almost every vampire in the state? It all seems kind of fantastical to me?"

I laughed. "At times it seems fantastical to me as well, I mean I am just a simple waitress from a small town in Louisiana. But somehow, I always end up in these crazy situations where I am fighting tooth and nail to save the people I love and even those I hate, simply because I can't let them be victims for simply existing."

"So you really did do all of those things?"

"Yes. I fought the witches of Shreveport when they threatened to drive out all the vampires, fortunately I wasn't actually injured in that war although I was shot but not during the skirmish. Debbie Pelt showed up and tried to kill me again. I was lucky there. She shot me, but her aim was off just enough that she just clipped my shoulder. I managed to get my shotgun and I dealt with her. I also saved the shifters and weres from this crazy psycho who had been bitten and was taking out her hate for what she had been done on the community. Again, I was shot but I managed to lure her out into the open and she got what she deserved in the end. The were war, well that wasn't on purpose, I was just trying to settle the issues the pack was having by attending a peace meeting. I was offering my services as a lie detector and all hell broke loose. So yeah I was there. I actually managed to escape that one relatively unscathed. Oh, and my house was almost burnt down by Charles Twining for getting Longshadow killed, shortly after I met Bill, but it was really Longshadow's own fault for embezzling and his maker just decided that it was all my fault and tried to have me 'dealt' with didn't really work. What else, oh Rhodes, yeah I was working for the Queen and dating Quinn when the fellowship decided to blow up the building with everyone in it. I didn't really think about it, I just did what had to be done. I can find humans and vamps with my gift, vamps because they leave a big empty spot and humans because I can hear them even when they aren't awake. I did what had to be done that's all. Again relatively unscathed there as well fortunately, oh yeah I saved the Queen from her traitorous husband when he tried to take her out as well. That was before Rhodes though."

"What about saving the king? He had just come in and taken over your state killed your Queen, killed Vampires you considered your friends and yet you saved him from Sigebert."

"Right time right place I guess, I wasn't really mad at him for doing what he did, I understand the political aspect of it Even if I was pissed that he did what he did, he didn't deserve to die the way that Sigebert would have killed him. Besides he would never have known how bad things where here if it wouldn't have been for Quinn. Once again the man I 'loved' betrayed me and my friends for his own purposes. His indiscretions where not nearly as bad as Bills in some ways but in other's it was way worse, at least Bill's betrayal didn't get almost everyone I know killed. Quinn tried to apologize but I just couldn't forgive him. I may understand why he did what he did but that doesn't mean I have to continue to associate myself with someone who doesn't really love me. If he did, he would have just agreed to work in the pits again instead of betraying me by telling the king all about me and giving away state secrets. Hell, he could have just given away all of the state secrets without ever mentioning me. Betrayal is betrayal I consider myself to be fairly forgiving but I almost died myself that night. I had to agree to work for the king for the next five years with no pay. The only stipulation that I got him to agree to and only because I saved his ass, was that I get to stay here in Louisiana. Otherwise I would probably be locked away in some gilded cell in Vegas."

"What happened to Bill and Quinn?"

"I don't have the slightest clue, they both disappeared that night. Hell, Bill wasn't any better than Quinn, when they showed up at my house he ran into the night leaving me on my own to face fourteen angry Vampires all on my own and I set up a meeting to negotiate a deal with the king for my services."

"Hmm," Eric kissed my head again and nuzzled me lightly with his nose. "You really are amazing."

"So I have heard." I laughed, he started to lightly kiss me again he placed soft kisses on my head, he moved my hair off the back of my neck and swept it to the side and gently started to kiss at the base of my hair line. I shivered against him. If this kept up I was going to throw him down on the ground right here in front of God and everyone and have my way with him. "Sam, he's my shifter boss keeps asking me if I am trying to be a martyr or something for the Supernatural world, I always tell him that I am just trying to do the right thing. I am by no means trying to get myself killed I have been fairly lucky so far. So is the inquisition over? You don't have any more questions for me?"

"None that I can think of at the moment." He kissed me on what I like to think of as the sweet spot at the nape of my neck.

I shuddered against him again and he laughed into my skin. The vibrations reverberated across my skin, pulling a small moan from my lips. He lifted me up of the ground and spun me around so that I was straddling his waist. I always forget how strong vampires actually are, and to actually see him handle me like I was no more than a rag doll caused me to gasp. I had the perfect mixture of fear and excitement rushing through me. I loved that he was willing to man handle me in a way, he could dominate me so easily.

I ran my fingers through his golden hair, it was so soft and smooth and, amazingly, the exact same color as my own. I moved my hand down further and just as I reached the base of his skull I felt two hard somethings hidden beneath his hair. I pulled back slightly and said. "Eric, is that what I think it is?"

"What is that little one?"

"Are you wearing swords?"

"Of course little one, I never go anywhere unarmed, **ever**. I haven't survived as long as I have to be so foolish to think that I might find myself in a situation where just my brute strength will not do the trick. So I take precautions, I also have two very long knifes on the outside of each of my boots."

I turned my upper body slightly and saw hidden amongst his dark boots was indeed the handle of a knife. If I hadn't been looking for it I would have missed it though the black of the handle blended in perfectly with his black jeans and black boots. I leaned back a little and ran my fingers just over the edge of the handles. This however put my cleavage right in Eric's face. He leaned forward and slowly started to kiss me across the tops of my breasts.

"It is terrible all the things that happened to you. Maybe, you can have a new chance at happiness with me?"

Oh good God, I love, love, love this man. So sweet and kind and yet powerful and manly, how did I get so lucky? I didn't feel one bit of apprehension about trusting him, although I knew that I should probably be wary, there was just no way that I could be. It was like he was the other half of my soul. He brought his knees up and kind of laid me back against them as a back rest and gently rubbed his hands up and down my sides. I closed my eyes thoroughly enjoying the moment. "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met Sookie." I smiled at that, how was it he knew just what to say. I slowly let myself relax completely; I had never felt so safe before, as I did, here in Eric's arms. I let my shields drop accidently but it was a good thing that I did. My eyes snapped open, I reached back grabbed both of Eric's knifes, somersaulted backwards, as I sprang to my feet, and ran towards the edge of the woods.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Notes:

Not much to add here, but I would like to thank all of you who have taken time out of your time to review my story. I appreciate it more than I have words for, I bow to you all, you are the reason I get in front of my computer every day and write.

A big ol' thank you to my editor/beta Catie, you rock darlin' if it wasn't for her I am sure ya'll would be fixin all kinds of mistakes in your heads as you read. Oh, I am working on getting a blog set up, as a kind of secondary site for my work. It will have both original works and my fan fic's on it. If you are interested in checking it out please let me know and I will send you the address. Enjoy the next installment of The Dance and as always review's of all kinds are appreciated.

Much love from the west coast,

Lilli

Chapter 3

-Eric

I kept having a hard time picturing this petite little blonde doing all the things that I have heard she has done. And yet, she speaks with such conviction about all the things that she has been through. I can just make out the scars on her shoulders where she has been shot. It amazes me. How is this little thing even capable of putting herself in such danger? I can't believe that ass Bill Compton managed to steal this girl's virginity. He put her through so much. I can feel how much pain he has caused her with the way her body responds while she speaks of him. Sookie acts like it doesn't matter, but he hurt her so deeply that I am amazed she is even willing to try to be in a relationship with anyone.

When she got to the part where she explained how she was shoved into the trunk after rescuing Bill, I knew what was coming next and even though she didn't come right out and say that he raped her that is exactly what happened. If I ever see that asshole I am going to tear him limb from limb for harming _my_ precious Sookie. That thought gave me pause. Wait, _**my**_ Sookie. What the hell? But I knew that was right, I knew she was mine and we were meant for each other.

How could this delicate flower be the fierce warrior that everyone in my world speaks of? She has done so many insane things and put her life on the line again and again. Maybe the shifter is right, maybe she is trying to be a martyr, but I just can't see it. She truly is just trying to do the right thing. Defender of innocent, that's My Sookie.

I run my hands up and down her sides and look at her. She really is the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. It's unbelievable that any human would ever think she was not good enough for them. It wasn't until she met a Vampire that she had ever had, what the humans call, a boyfriend. No wonder Bill was able to take advantage of her so easily. She must have had no self-confidence after so many years of rejection.

"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met Sookie." A small smile spreads across her lips and if I had a heartbeat it would have stopped with that smile. She was angelic; she could rival the beauty of any Goddess. I watched her body relax inch by inch against me. I wanted nothing more than to take this woman back to my home and show her the real meaning of passion, lust, and even love if it done with the right person. Something told me that sex with Sookie would most definitely be a religious experience. I really didn't want to rush anything with her, she was special, but I wanted her so badly.

I opened my mouth to suggest we go for a drive to try and progress the night further along when her whole body goes rigid. Her eyes fly open and before I even know what is happening she grabs both of my knifes from my boots, does a most impressive backwards summersault to get to her feet, and takes off like a bullet from a gun towards the far side of the gathering, shouting orders along the way.

Something was clearly wrong. I draw my broad swords from their sheaths and am one step behind her in an instant. My swords feel warm and familiar in my hands, and although they are usually meant to be two handed weapons, after all my years walking this earth I have perfected being able to wield these weapons without having to use both hands. The typical reason a human has to use both hands anyways is because of the weight of the weapon. For me that isn't a problem. I can lift Boeing jets and fling them around like they are made of paper.

"Crystal, get the children out of here now! Take them back to my house they will be safe behind the spells. Someone will call when it is over." Sookie shouted at a small little panther girl who was clearly at least seven months pregnant.

"Sookie I can't leave I have to help defend the pack!"

"DAMN IT CRYSTAL YOU ARE PREGNANT! TAKE THE KIDS AND GO! WE WILL BE FINE! JUST GO NOW!" The girl shut her mouth and gathered up all the kids and ran.

Sookie turned to Calvin and said "Calvin get the men spread out in a long line of two and three deep, everyone needs to shift now. I don't think we will have a second chance, we should be prepared before they breakthrough the edge of the forest.

"You got it Sookie. Do you know how many are coming in?" Calvin asked; I could hear the deep growl of his beast being suppressed behind his words.

"Nope they are still too far out. Move your ass now though." The man just nodded and ran off, herding up the men of Hot Shot, and following Sookie's instructions to a T.

"Amelia get up as many wards as you can to try and keep the humans that are coming in safe and out of the line of fire. Maybe prepare a sleep spell to throw at them as soon as the action starts."

"I'm all over it Sook. Where are they coming in?"

She pointed over at a point maybe fifty yards in front of us just at the edge of the field and woods. Amelia immediately went to work without another word. I couldn't believe that all of these people were just blindly following Sookie's orders with very few questions. For the first time I could see the fierce warrior underneath. Oh my good Gods I love, love, love this woman. She stopped dead in her tracks about ten yards from the edge of the woods. "Eric."

"I'm here Sookie."

"Get a single vamp with each cluster of three so that there is one backing up each group. It makes the most sense to distribute the force so that way we aren't weak anywhere on the line." She closed her eyes and I waved to the various vampires that were hanging back to get into line side by side with shifters. Amazing, simply amazing; shifters, vampires, and weres, fighting side by side; all lead by this delicate flower.

She took a deep breath to steady herself, I could see that she was trying to not be afraid, this brave girl. Her breath shook just the smallest bit on the way out, if I hadn't been watching so intently I would have never seen it. I stuck one sword back into its sheath and gently touched her cheek. "It's okay Sookie. You don't have to do this alone any more. I am right here by your side, I'll help you carry this burden of defender. I swear we will get through this together."

She reached up and grabbed my shirt and pulled me to her and kissed me fiercely as if we would never have another opportunity to kiss again. The entire world paused for just one moment as she woman kissed me like the world was going to end. "Just in case." She whispered she stood on tip toe and leaned close to my ear lowering her voice so that it was just a breath of sound. I knew that no one but the two of us could hear the next words that passed her lips. "Eric, just know, I could really love you."

With that she stepped away from me and turned back towards the woods. "Everyone ready yourselves." I looked up and down the line and noticed all the shifters had changed and the vampires were all at the ready to fight and die beside this woman. She was like a burning star leading the way, her light was so pure and honest that we all knew to not follow would be a crime. There was no doubt on anyone's faces; they would all willingly lay their lives down for her. Oh my Gods I did love this woman; she was the perfect balance between delicate beauty and fierce warrior. I was going to be with this woman for the rest of my undead life and I would never let anything happen to her. We were meant to be.

Before I could give that much more thought the wind changed and I suddenly knew what was coming. "Shifters, weres, and humans" I hissed. She just nodded. "How many Sookie?"

She closed her eyes to concentrate. "They are close, maybe 15 humans, but they won't be a problem as long as Amelia does her job. There are maybe thirty weres and thirty shifters so we are looking at a force of sixty, maybe more." She opened her eyes and looked up at me. "Shifter's and weres are hard for me. They are all red and angry in my head and when it is a pack they all kind of bleed together, especially this close to the full moon."

"What do they want Sookie?"

"Me." She said simply and took another step forward, the clear leader of this little rag tag force. I stepped right next to her though. She was never going to fight another battle alone again. Just then they all broke through the trees. She was damn close to the number too there were fifteen humans in the middle, clearly thinking they were leading the force behind them, and maybe seventy or eighty shifters and weres. A small red head woman stepped forward, clearly the spokesperson for the group.

"What do you want?" Sookie spoke loud and clear not even the slightest quiver in her voice.

"We came to send you, and all of these minions of hell, back to where you came from."

Sookie just laughed. "Shut up Arlene. I wasn't talking to you, you idiot. You're so fucking gullible. Do you really think this is about your precious made up beliefs? Do you really think that you would have been able to wrangle up such a force and come here in such a small amount of time? You are truly pathetic Arlene, all of your new recruits are not any more pure then you are. They aren't even what you would classify as human."

"LIAR, YOU FANG BANGING WHORE WITCH!! YOU'RE JUST TRYING TO SHAKE OUR BELIEF! YOU ALL DESERVE TO DIE." Spittle was running down the red head's chin, she was practically foaming at the mouth with her fervor.

Sookie just laughed, and I watched as the shifters and weres on the other side slowly started to change shape. "Look Arlene, look what you have brought with you to fight your holy war." Sookie gestured to the changing shifters and Arlene started to scream in true panic. "Shut her up Amelia."

I heard the witch behind us slowly muttering in Latin and just like that all the humans on the other side of the line fell to the ground. "Now that that is taken care of." Sookie tilted her head slightly and closed her eyes. "John Quinn, come forward."

A tall bald man slowly stepped out of the shadows. I had seen him before at various events; he was a renowned fighter, and also Sookie's ex. He had almost gotten her killed and he broke her heart. I felt the blood lust slowly start to build in me. I must have taken a step towards him, because Sookie placed one hand on my chest to stop my progression. I felt weres coming up behind us and I went to spin around thinking we were being surrounded and Sookie lowered her voice to a whisper. "It's all right it's just more members of Alcide's pack, Crystal must have called them."

She turned back to Quinn and said. "What do you want Quinn? Why did you come here on this special day and pick a fight?"

"Babe, there won't be any fight as long as you come along quietly, but even if you don't you're still coming with me. You will just have more blood on your hands because of your own stubborn nature."

"First off asshole don't call me Babe."

"Sookie," Quinn laughed. "What would your Gran think of you, for using such awful language?" He shakes his finger at her like she is a naughty child. "Something tells me she would not approve."

That clearly hit a nerve with her, because this time I had to stop her from launching herself at the tiger. She took a deep breath. "Again, what do you want John? Why are you here? Do you really think I would go anywhere with you? Can't you go and find another pussy to play with?"

Quinn snarled at her. "Don't flatter yourself sweetheart. My master sent me to fetch you?"

Sookie laughed. "Your master hmmm and who would that be John."

"You know what babe when you call me John, I get the feeling that you are insulting me."

"Really, why on God's green earth would you think that JOHN? Could it perhaps be JOHN that it is because your name, the name _**Quinn**_ is supposed to be honorable and worthy of respect, but you JOHN have done nothing, NOTHING to deserve that respect lately JOHN. Do these weres and shifters that you have following you know that the rock star John Quinn is nothing more than a moron who will betray you at the drop of a dime? You are supposed to be so honorable JOHN, but you're not. If you were honorable JOHN, you would not have done the things that you did. You almost got me killed John. I … Quinn I loved you and you betrayed me. I thought we were it, that we would live happily ever after and have a litter of kittens of our very own."

A sudden flash of pain crossed Quinn's face. "Sookie." He said quietly. "I.."

"It doesn't matter anymore John. Who is your master? Let us get this over with. If you are truly honorable you will take your force and leave here."

"You know I can't leave Sook."

"I know John. You know I won't go willingly."

"I know Sook."

"Who is your master John?"

"Bill," He said quietly. A slow murmur of growls progressed up and down our side of the line. Obviously Bill was not a favorite amongst these people.

Sookie just sighed. "What does he want John?"

"He wants you Sookie, he wants to finish the bonding and then turn you. He knows that once that is done you will be a force to be reckoned with and that being his tool will make him the most powerful vampire in the U.S."

I look down at Sookie and I can see the doubt and furry all sweeping her away. I could see the wheels turning in her head. She was considering just giving herself up so that there would be no bloodshed and none of her friends and family would die today. I watched her take one hesitant step forward and I reached out and grabbed her shoulder.

"Don't do it Sookie. Even if you gave yourself up, I have no doubt that the traitor has told them to leave no survivors. We will get through this together, we will all survive and we will get the traitor and stop him from harming you further, I promise. Trust me."

She looked me in my eyes as if searching for something, all of the sudden I could see the weight of everything she has been through weighing heavily on her. This poor girl was never meant to have to be a warrior, but here she was doing just that. She was on the edge of tipping over to the other side, just so that she could find some peace. She had been alone for too long. I reached out and pulled her to me as one tear slowly rolls down her cheek. I kiss it away and look in her eyes. "I could love you too Sookie," I whisper. "Let me help you."

She nods at me once and I watch as the warrior slowly slides back into place as she turns to face Quinn. I take one step forward and say, "Quinn, as Sheriff and representative of the King, I order you to leave here in peace or you, and all that follow you this night, will be put to their final deaths. As it is Quinn I believe there is a death warrant for you already for fleeing Nevada. The King is most unhappy with you."

I saw Quinn's side of the line stir uneasily; Sookie leans closer to me and whispers. "He told them it would be a simple snatch and grab, he didn't expect such a force and they know that if they press on that they will be hunted down."

"If some of you choose to leave now I will not pursue you, I give you my word, but I guarantee anyone and I mean anyone who attacks us this night will die at my hands."

"Just give us Sookie and we will all leave in peace, no fur off my nose," Quinn said. I could hear the desperation in his voice and so could his troops. I watched as at least thirty of his troops melted away into the woods, clearly abandoning their fearless leader.

"Ah, ah, ah, Quinn no lies amongst friends," Sookie said and tapped the side of her head. With a snarl Quinn and what remained of his force launched themselves at us. I watched as Sookie spun and twirled in a graceful ballet of blood and gore. I could feel my cock hardening watching her fight. Fucking beautiful and deadly. Two weres launched themselves at me from the side, I spun effortlessly and loped their heads off in one movement. All around us the sound of flesh hitting flesh and the growls of battle permeated the air.

The air was heavy with the sweet, rusty smell of copper pennies and the musky pungent odor of sweat. I glance at Sookie and she is holding her own, but slowly losing ground as she backs up towards me. She slashes and stabs one after another, but they just keep coming and coming. She was at a clear advantage though because they were trying to take her hostage without harming her. She on the other hand didn't have that problem. Body after body fell in front of my warrior Goddess. Three more weres surround me and I dispatch them with little effort and make my way towards a gore covered Sookie. Fuck. All that blood and the way she moved was bringing me to the brink. She moved just as well on the battle field as she did on the dance floor.

Quinn rushed her from the side and I screamed, "Sookie!" She spun and slashed down across Quinn's chest, spun again and brought the blades straight through his middle. Holy shit. Blood flung and spurted from the gaping wound, covering her further in the blood of her enemy. She stood over Quinn threw her head back, and roared a battle cry mixed with pain to the night sky. And just like that the night went quiet, only the sounds of the crickets filled the air. The battle was won. Our side prevailed and those on the other side that still had their lives fell to the ground in surrender after their leader fell.

Sookie slowly fell to her knees and put her head on the chest of the dead man in front of her. I snap my fingers and my child Pam was instantly at my side. "Master." She bows at the waist.

"I am taking Sookie out of here to my home. Make sure there are some clothes delivered there for her. Also organize the clean up here and make sure the children of this town are returned to their homes tonight."

"Yes master, do we tell the King?"

"We will have to, but not tonight. I must think on what needs to be said."

"Yes, master." Pam turns and sets about her tasks. That's the one thing about my child, although like all children she is a huge pain in my ass at times, she follows orders when they are important.

I walk over to Sookie and crouch next her. "Sookie," I whisper softly. She looks up at me; tears streaming down her face she is so covered in blood that it almost looks like her tears are that of a vampire. My bloody angel, although she will wield the blade like the fiercest warrior, it costs her dearly to take a life. She is a warrior with a conscious, an avenging angel that truly hurts more deeply with every blow that she delivers upon her enemy's heads. I was mixed with conflicting emotions, I wanted to pull her to me and fuck her until she couldn't walk straight after watching her battle so fiercely. But I also wanted to wrap her into my arms and take all of her pain away and cleanse her of the memories of the things she has done.

"Come my love, I will take you from here, you did so well and I am very proud of you." I gently pulled her up into my arms and she lays her head on my chest and sighs deeply. I carry My Sookie through the blood and gore and gently place her in my corvette, within moments of my buckling her into place she drifts off to sleep.

I am halfway to my home when my cell rings and I flip it open quickly so as not to wake Sookie. "Speak."

"Master."

"What do you need Pam?"

"The spot has been thoroughly cleaned. No evidence of the attack is evident. Have you given any more thought as to what to tell the King?"

"No Pam, I haven't even gotten back to my house yet."

"Well, the shifter that Sookie works for has some ideas would you like to hear them?"

I sigh deeply, "Pam, I really didn't want to think about this at the moment I just want to get Sookie back to our home and go from there."

"Master, if you wish to keep her safe then you must think about this. As sheriff you are obliged to call Felipe and tell him what has happened. I don't want you to lose sight of that. Forgive my impertinence, but if you really care for this girl you must listen."

"Fine, what is this brilliant plan that you have come up with."

"Well it is quite brilliant and I am not the one that came up with it, the little puppy did. He knows that Sookie is right on the verge of being taken by the king and he figures that if the king knows that Sookie was in the middle of the battle that he will take her for sure. Do you concur?"

"Yes."

"So we must cover up the fact that your little Sookie was anywhere close to this battle. It's not like Bill is likely to come forward saying that he tried to kidnap her. As a matter of fact he will either go underground again, or attempt another kidnapping. If he does the latter he will come himself for her. He seems to be quite obsessed with getting her back. The Shifter says that he has been around Sookie's house on several occasions over the last few months. He doesn't think Bill has actually approached her, but that he has definitely been scouting for her vulnerabilities."

"Move it along Pam."

"Because Sookie is so respected by everyone, including the Vampires that we brought with us tonight, that have never even met her before by the way, they have all agreed that they will take an blood oath that Sookie was never at this battle to protect her from Felipe. If any of them even think about betraying said oath, the witch has insured they will instantly go to their final death."

"Really, I would love to know how she insures this."

"Some mumbo jumbo magic thing I'm sure."

"Of course, set up a meeting with her at some point next week so I can discuss her coming to work for us."

"Yes master. Anyway we will make it look as if the tiger attacked the gathering because of our presence and not Sookie's. A retribution/payback thing for what he has endured at the hands of Nevada. All you have to do is call Felipe and have him send Victor to examine the area. If Sookie is even brought up at all, tell him that as you understand she had a falling out not long ago with her brother which prevented her from showing up tonight. She is known for her stubborn streak."

"Fine plan child, I will call him immediately."

"Master?" I knew that tone and I really didn't want to deal with whatever it was that she was about to say.

"What Pamela?"

"If what the tiger said is true, that Bill has started the bond, he can go to the tribunal to claim her."

"I know Pam."

"Do you love this girl?"

I look over at Sookie and just take in the sight of her for a long moment. Even covered in the blood and gore of her enemies she was just as beautiful as when she was moving so gracefully around the dance floor. "Yes."

"Then you must do one of two things master, turn her or bond with her and start one or the other tonight. If you don't the King is going to take her or Bill will. I think the King would wait until Bill forced his hand, but he will do it unless you do something to prevent it from happening. Although Felipe is king, you are much older and much stronger than him. He has no open claim on the girl and has not made it known that he will do such anytime soon. I think you should mention the girl first. Tell the king you met with her finally as a kind of side note. If the king asks what you thought of her tell him you find her quite interesting that you have already worked your Viking whiles on her and had the first blood exchange and find her to be quite invigorating. Tell him that Sookie mentioned the beginnings of the blood bond with Bill and that you had to think quickly to ensure her place in our kingdom, you began your own bond. Or something similar."

"Fine Pam thank you." I clicked my phone shut. I so didn't want to have this conversation with Felipe. I needed to tell Sookie first, I finally reach my house and I pull into my garage killing the engine.

I brush Sookie's hair away from her face. "Sookie my love we are here."

She stirs slightly and opens one eye and looks up at me, a small smile spreads across her lips. "Where's here Eric?"

I smile down at her, God's how can I fall in love in one night, this is insane. "At our house love."

She closes her eyes again and says. "Good I need a friggin shower honey."

I laugh lightly. "I think that can be arranged love, would you like me to carry you again or do you think you can manage the walk?"

She sighs again. "I can't decide. I really don't want to think that hard so you decide Eric. Take care of me please?"

"As you wish." I pull her into my arms and she cuddles into my chest like a child snuggles into their parents' arms. Somewhere that they know is completely safe from all the monsters of the world. How could someone so small be so deadly at the same time? I quickly made my way through the house to the hidden panel and entered in the code. I cross the huge library and through the bedroom and into the bathroom at the back of the room, I set her gently down on the counter and she squirm's just the smallest bit. The marble must be cold. I quickly flick on all the knobs and the switch for the heated floor and get back to Sookie. I try to pull the dress off but it is stuck in several places on her body where the blood and gore have dried it, acting like paste, adhering the fabric to her skin. I pull once, quickly and cleanly, the dress coming away in two pieces from her body.

"Was that really necessary or were you just showing off?" She giggles. Oh that laugh melts my heart.

I shrug. "It was ruined anyways and this way is so much more fun." I wiggle my eyebrows at her and she laughs again. "I will buy you a new one."

"You bet your ass mister, I might have been able to save it, maybe after soaking it and washing it about fifty times. Okay you're right it was ruined, it just sucks because I just bought that damn dress."

"Sookie, I will give you anything you need, I will take care of you. You're not alone any more; I will always be there for you my love."

"Are you sure because I have had quite a few people tell me that I am a right pain in the ass, no one has wanted to stick it out past the first few months." And although I knew she was joking in her own way she was also serious. She had been hurt so many times that she thought no one would ever go the distance.

"I will never leave you Sookie, I promise."

She lowered head refusing to look at me. "Bill got bored of me after the first few months; I don't think that I can take that again. Eric, I don't know what it is about you, but if you left me for another woman I think it would kill me. I… I … this is crazy how is it that after only a few hours I can feel this way."

I gently grab her chin and make her look me in the eyes. "I love you too Sookie. It is crazy and insane that I feel this way, but I do. I love you Sookie Stackhouse I always will. I'll protect you and I will help you fight your battles just like I did tonight. You are magnificent and both Bill and Quinn were fools for letting you go. Now let me take care of you love."

She leaned into my chest and threw her arms around my waist. I could feel her hot tears pouring onto my chest. I reached around and unhooked her bra and slid it down her arms. "I love you too Eric." She whispered. If my heart could have broken it would have, the pleasure that those five little words caused me would have surly cause my heart to burst with joy. I ran my hands down her naked back and settled them on the side of hips; I tugged once and snapped the delicate lace of her panties. "Not the most ideal way I would have liked to see you naked for the first time, but I could think of much worse things than to have you here in front of me naked as the day you were born."

She laughs and leans back against the wall behind her, her full pert breasts standing at attention just for me, I can just see the edge of her beautiful golden curls that cover her womanhood. Everything about her was perfect even if she was still splashed in blood here and there. Her tan was a perfect light caramel color and it caused her golden curls to just stick out that much more. Every splash of blood that was spread across her body glittered against that caramel skin like macabre sequence. "Fuck Sookie you are beautiful."

She made a little O shape with her perfect rose lips as if in shock and said, "Such language. Don't you know that you never speak to a lady that way." She got a wicked grin on her face and stretched her body long and lean arching it backwards like she was trying to work out an incredibly tight muscle. She knew exactly what she was doing, that little minx was teasing me. Well two could play at that game.

I grabbed her hips and roughly pulled her too me so that her pretty little body was pressed in just the right spot against my jeans. She let out a little gasp and moan at the same time. I lean forward and tangle my hand in her hair at the base of her neck stretching her backwards. She had a particularly large patch of blood spread across her belly and I lightly run the tip of my tongue along her skin. Barley touching her, she lets out a small moan and tries to roll her hips against me but I hold her tighter so that she can't move an inch. "If you move I am going to stop." I can feel her heart jump and start to pound so loud that it echoes in my ears.

I kiss my way up to the patch of blood that was smeared just above her ample breasts. I lick one slow line across her chest. Her body quivers beneath me and I couldn't help but to roll my hips against her. Her moan splits the air and shakes me, that sound must surely be what Valhalla sounds like. "Don't move Sookie," I whisper against her hot skin. I release her hip and slowly slid my hand between her legs. I run one finger up and down her sweet little pussy and she is dripping wet. "Fuck Sookie" I growl low and she moans again.

"Please Eric."

I laugh and lean right next to her ear and gently start to kiss and nibble, pulling the lobe into my mouth running the delicate skin along my fangs, nicking that silky soft skin just the smallest bit. When that first drop of her blood hits my tongue I know that I am undone. This woman is mine and I will never leave her side.

Her blood is like the sweetest wine, and it was singing just for me. I plunge my fingers deep inside of her and she is so tight, there is no way that I will fit with her being so tight. I growl a low deep sound and she throws her head back further. "So tight," I whisper against her neck and her whole body begins to quake. I can feel her orgasm building, she is so close. I begin to increase my movements sliding another finger into her hot center. Her delicate arms wrap around me and she rakes her nails down my back in hot fiery lines.

Beads of sweat begin to accumulate on her perfect body and the smell of her sex, combined with the smell of the blood of her enemies, permeates my senses. Images of her whirling my blades in an endless dance of death and destruction fill my brain, my dark angel bringing the wrath of righteousness down on her enemies. My animal roars within and rises to the surface I plunge my fangs into the delicate flesh of her neck and I feel her orgasm explode in my hands. Her hot blood gushes into my mouth and it is the sweetest of any I have ever tasted in all my time on this earth. I run my tongue slow and leisurely across her hot skin, sealing the wound I left in her neck.

Looking down on her covered in blood and sweat, her hair all over, I knew I was in love with this creature. "You really are beautiful Sookie."

She sits up and kisses my chest running those perfect lips back and forth across my smooth skin. I wrap my arms around her and pull her tightly to me and she kisses her way to my neck while I hold her to me. How was it that I was so blessed after all the evil that I have done? How could in one night my world be so changed by this little southern belle? She pulls the skin of my neck into her mouth and releases over and over.

"I love you Eric," She whispers softly against my skin and bites down hard on my throat. I feel her tiny teeth break through the skin and my blood rush over her tongue. I can feel it slide down her throat and into her warm belly. With a rush I can feel Sookie's emotions wash over me, intertwining with my own. She wants nothing more than to be a part of me and visa versa; she was meant to be here in my arms forever.

I drop my jeans to the floor and quickly impale myself deep within her. I hear her moan and her body spasms, but she doesn't let go of my neck. I move faster and faster within her and she draws again and again on the wound that she has made on my throat. I can feel myself rapidly approaching the edge of ecstasy ready to throw myself to the other side, but I want her to join me there. Just when I think I can't take it anymore she releases my neck and leans back. I plunge faster and harder within her I am almost there. "Cum for me Sookie, cum with me my love." And just like that I feel her hot little pussy tighten around me causing my own release and she screams my name with her own. I lay my forehead between her breasts and listen as her heart and breathing eventually slow to its normal pace.

Her fingers gently start playing with my hair and I look up into her sky blue eyes. "I love you Sookie, I promise I will never leave you."

"I know," she says quietly and smiles the smallest little grin.

"Do you know what you just did Sook?"

"Yep, I started the blood bond. Bill tried to have one with me, but it never got past the first exchange. There is no way I am going to spend eternity with that asshole. I want to be with you, you're the other half of me. We were meant to be together."

She was so sure of herself, she knew exactly what she was getting herself into and I had thought for sure I was going to have spend hours explaining it to her. About why it would be the smartest thing for her to bind herself to me, constantly hashing and rehashing the pro's and con's of such a union. This woman was amazing.

"Come on Eric let's get cleaned up and then you can tell me what we are going to do next. I know that there is going to be some kind of fallout from our battle tonight. I'm sure you need to call Felipe. Do you have some kind of plan? I know he is going to want to snatch me away to Nevada after tonight's adventure."

"He won't take you Sookie. You are mine. I won't let him lay one finger on you."

"I know sweetheart, take me to the shower and help me get cleaned up."

"As you wish." I lift up my girl and walk her into the shower and although I know there is one hell of a rough road in front of us, right now, in this moment, all that matters is the two of us together, wrapped in each other's arms.


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors Notes:**

Just a quick little note. Many thanks to all of you who have taken the time out of your busy days to review my work. Your kind words mean a lot to me. I also want to thank all of those who have added me to their favorite lists, it means a lot to me. I would love to encourage all of you to express your opinions in reviews, be they good, bad, or indifferent, even if you don't normally review. Your words help me grow as a writer and that is the whole point of it for me. Enjoy the newest chapter.

Much love all,

Lilli

Chapter 4

-Eric

I pace back and forth across my large room, Sookie sitting on my bed with an amused look on her face. "What is so funny Sookie?" I ask her angrily. I may have been a little more brisk then I meant to be but how can she just sit there so calm and collected? I look over at her and even in my t-shirt that is so large on her that it hits just below the knees, she looks so beautiful. If I am not very careful Felipe is going to take her from me. I just can't have that.

"Just call him Eric. Stressing about it isn't going to make it easier on you. I need you to get your shit together and be the big bad Vampire that you are."

"Sookie you … you just don't understand. We haven't finished the bonding and he can still come and take you away and I couldn't deal with that." She jumps off the bed, crosses the room in three quick steps, and slaps me across my face. I snarl and grab her arms, my fangs down, and shake her the smallest bit. She just winks at me. Not a bit of fear on her face.

"Better. Now pull yourself together. I am going to call Russell and have him come with the knife so that we can finish the bonding this weekend. You are going to call Felipe and tell him about what Quinn did tonight and your suspicions that Bill is going to be entering the area. Don't forget to mention that Russell has contacted you and wants to come to a trade agreement with you on a calendar line for Fangtasia. The real trick is going to be him thinking that we met on accident and that we were instantly taken with each other without him thinking you are trying to steal me away from him. Put your head in the game and make the call. I am going to go and call Russell."

She stands on tiptoe and kisses my lips very quickly, slips my phone into my hand, turns, and leaves the room heading towards the library so she can make her own phone call. I can't believe this woman. She is so strong and yet so delicate all at the same time. I flick open my cell and dial the number to the King's personal line. "You've got me." His rich Hispanic voice comes over the line after just one ring.

"Your highness, Eric Northman here. Is this a good time?"

"Ahhh Northman how goes things in Area 5? I was just reviewing the profits for your area and it seems they are up tenfold since you have taken over."

"Thank you your highness. Profit wise things are good. It wasn't hard to clean up the mess that Compton created in his time as sheriff. But I have actually called to make you aware of an attack that has taken place against us this very evening. I would have called you sooner but I have just returned from supervising the cleanup of this catastrophe."

"What has happened Northman?"

"Quinn entered the area tonight with a large force of weres and shifters. They attacked me at the wedding function that I told you about."

"The panther wedding out in Hot Shot?"

"Yes sir. He and his forces were easily dispatched."

"Did you happen to glean why it was that he attacked you there? Would it perhaps be that Miss. Stackhouse was the cause of all of this trouble? As I understand it the tiger was quite fond of her and the last I heard he was working for Compton somewhere in Tennessee. Did he come for her?"

I took a deep breath. "No sir, he said that he was there for revenge. Something about how we killed his mother and forced his sister into servitude. Something about how my final death was supposed to be a message to you about, quote, 'Fucking with the wrong guy.' Since I have no clue as to what he was talking about I figured he must have finally lost his mind."

Filipe laughs. "What an idiot that tiger is. Yes, we killed his mother after the takeover and then we forced his sister to work in the hotel. But, why he would attack out there? It makes no sense."

"Well sir, the way he made it sound this was only supposed to be the beginning of the attacks. I think that he was trying to dispatch as much of your loyal forces as possible before he went to Nevada to deal with you. Although I think he highly underestimated me and my people. Not to mention the fact that the local were pack, as well as the panthers, lent a hand to help us deal with our would be killer."

"Really? Now why would the shifters and weres jump into the fray alongside the vampires? Was Miss Stackhouse caught in the fray? She has been known to unite the races somehow."

"Your guess is as good as mine as to why they joined in. I think it was simply because the tiger had the audacity to attack during the wedding and that all of us were there together. This was vampire business, but Quinn was the idiot that brought ninety weres and shifters to a shifter wedding. The shifters seemed to take it personally that their own would attack during such an auspicious occasion."

"And Miss Stackhouse, is she safe? I hope that she wasn't damaged during this little scuffle. I really don't want to have to bring her out here to have to protect her. She seems to be such a magnet for trouble that one."

"No, she wasn't there, and I was so looking forward to seeing her again."

There was a long pause and I could almost hear the wheels in his head turning. "Wasn't this wedding in her brother's pack?"

"Yes from what I understand this is her brother's pack, but there apparently was some kind of falling out between the two of them recently. She seemed to have refused to come. Her roommate sent her condolences on not being able to join in the activities, and that she wished them the best of luck. She just refused to be anywhere near her brother Jason."

"Oh yes, I remember now I heard about their falling out. Something about her pledging on behalf for her brother at his wedding and then having to smash the pack leader's hand because of Jason's wife's betrayal."

"Interesting. She failed to mention that to me when she told me she wouldn't be attending."

Take the bait, take the bait, I pray over and over. "So you have met our little telepath have you?" Yes, like putty in my hands.

"Oh yes, I have _met_ her." I lace my words with innuendo.

"How did that come about then? I thought that your meeting with her wasn't for another month."

"It was quite funny actually. I sent her the summons for the meeting next month and she showed up at the club. She was … unhappy to say the least."

He chuckles softly. "Yes, full of fire that one. It is quite amazing."

I laugh loudly but my stomach churns because I can hear the lust in his words. "Yes, quite amazing. She cursed at me quite thoroughly in front of the whole club. I dealt with the situation quickly though and put her in her place. I was actually quite amazed that I was able to squelch that little fire so quickly."

"Hmm… and how did you manage to put her into her place so quickly?"

"Your highness, she is a beautiful woman. I used my charms on her and she seemed … agreeable."

"Oh yes, she is quite beautiful. I would imagine that she is even more beautiful without all of those bothersome clothes on. Would you agree?"

"Very nice indeed your highness. I find her to be a welcome distraction from my daily intrigues. And since it seems that I can handle her fairly well, and keep her in check, I have made it a personal mission to get the little telepath to heel nicely for our great kingdom. She is much more pleasant now I must say."

He laughs one loud bark. "In other words, she just needed someone she felt comfortable with, that had a ton of charm, and was a good fuck to bring her to heel. Very interesting Viking. From what I hear Compton tried for two years to get her to complete the bond and she would have none of it. As a matter of fact from what I hear she was downright obstinate when he tried to get her to heel."

"She really is an amazing little creature your highness, but perhaps Compton wasn't doing something right because, believe it or not, the little minx initiated the bonding while we were in the middle of our session."

"Amazing! Well this really is a boon for the kingdom. With you as her master I know that she will be kept well and truly safe. I know that you are loyal to me Northman. I will send Victor soon to check on the progress of your area as well as to meet your lovely bonded. Have you considered the final bonding?"

"Hmmm…well no sire I have never really thought that it would be necessary, for she is well in hand, but now that you mention it I think it would be most wise. Don't you agree? From what I hear New York has wanted to snatch our little Southern Belle away from us so perhaps I will do this. Yes. You know now that I think of it, Russell will be here tomorrow night and I can have him witness and perform the exchange."

"Russell is coming to your area? When was this decided?"

"He called me shortly before the wedding out in Hot Shot, something about a trade negotiation for the new calendar line that I am making for Fangtasia. I intended to call you tonight and tell you about it but I was understandably distracted."

"Of course. Tell you what Northman. After Russell has finished your little ceremony there why not bring Miss Stackhouse out here and we can perform a second ceremony with all the pomp that it deserves. It's not every day that someone manages to marry Fae royalty and a telepath to boot."

"Fae royalty? Wait. What? Sookie's fairy royalty?"

"She didn't tell you?"

"No, we haven't spent a lot of our time talking if you understand me."

He chuckles again. "Yes, I have heard rumors of your prowess. But yes, she is Fae royalty. I believe her great-grandfather is Niall Brigant."

I hiss. Just great. "Are you sure of this?"

"Quite sure. He was a lot of the reason she was not brought out here to Vegas when we took over. She called him the night of the takeover. I am not really sure how much contact the two have but I am quite positive that she is his kin. From what I understand though she had no clue as to her origins until recently. She doesn't even really understand the whole thing of being part fae, and what that might mean for her. If she awakens her spark she will be a force to be reckoned with. Although if everything I have heard about her is true she is already a force to be reckoned with."

"The stories are true. I have seen the scars myself."

"From what Niall would tell me she has a great destiny ahead of her. He said there is a prophecy, not only by our own Pythoness but also from some great oracle of their own."

"Have you managed to get a hold of the prophecy?"

"No, the Pythoness refuses to tell me. She says she will reveal it to Sookie but refuses to say when that will be. As her bonded I am sure you can try and persuade her into finding out what these prophesies are. A vampire married to a fairy. Who ever thought that would be possible? If you knew before you bonded to her that she was a fairy, would you have done it differently?"

I pause for a long time thinking that over. If I had known Sookie was a Brigant would I have still bonded to her? What if her spark comes to life and we can't be together any more? The thought of that breaks my undead heart. No matter how much time we may have together I love this woman, and even if I may lose her I have to be with her now. "No, I don't think I have a choice in being her bonded. I find myself drawn to her. Before I even took her blood I knew that she was mine."

"Hmmm, well I guess Brigant was right then. Damn that means I owe him for loosing the bet."

"Wait, what?"

"Brigant told me during the takeover that you were Sookie's destiny. Or at least a part of it. He told me that the two of you are meant to be bonded, and if I hindered that process in any way he would rain fairy hell down upon my head. You were not even a part of my retinue at the time but he knew just where to find you, and what I had to do to bring you into my fold, so that you and Miss Stackhouse would meet. I told him there is no way you would bind yourself to her, that you have never had a blood tie, and that you certainly would not risk the chance of angering your king. He assured me that you two wouldn't have a choice; you would meet and it would be like magic. You would have to bond to her and she would have to bond to you. When the third bonding is complete, the two of you will be something indeed if Brigant is right.

"Take this warning though Northman. You have my blessings in this union, but you should not have lied to me about how it came to be. And watch out for Victor. I know that you have only done the first exchange, but let Victor think that tomorrow he is witnessing the third. He is most taken with Sookie and wants to turn her. If he thinks that you have done the third exchange I do not think he will be foolish enough to attempt it, but still be cautious. The sooner you can get to Vegas the better. I will arrange for the two of you to fly out here on my jet not tomorrow but the next evening right after sunset."

"You honor me sir."

"No I honor your destiny with that girl. Besides you are one of the oldest Vampire in the U.S. Do you really think I have been king as long as I have by not choosing my enemies and allies wisely?"

"Of course not sir. I thank you for your blessing and warning."

"See you soon Northman."

"Until then your highness."

I click my phone shut and sit down on the edge of my bed just as Sookie is walking in from the library with a huge smile on her face. "So my little fairy princess, I think you have some explaining to do don't you?" I watch her freeze instantly as all the color drains from her face. I can hear her heart pounding in her chest and can smell the stink of fear rolling off of her in waves.


	5. Chapter 5

**Authors Notes:**

Hey everyone, so I decided to update a day early this week. I am going to try and do updates on Tuesdays from here on out, but I was to impatient to wait another day. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time out of there days to review, I also want to thank everyone who has added me to their favorites list, for either the story or me as an author. Much love to you for that. Thanks as always to my Editor/beta Catie, without her fic would be much harder to read. *cough cough* Shameless plug *cough* Okay everyone, I know that some of you are following my other fic The Shadows of Doubt, but I am sure that some of you had no clue I had more than one active fic going at the moment. So… show me some love and go and check it out. As always don't forget to leave a review, be it good, bad, or indifferent. Until next time, enjoy the chapter.

Tons of love,

Lilli

Chapter 5

-Sookie

I walk out of the bedroom and into Eric's library as the smell of old books warms my senses and fills me with comfort. I don't know what it is about the smell of books, but they always bring me a sense of peace that I have never quite been able to find anywhere else in my life. The combination of paper with dust and leather all fills me with a sense of euphoria. That smell combined with the endless possibilities of new worlds just waiting to be discovered behind the seemingly harmless bindings is thrilling. Old favorites and new discoveries lurk behind every corner. For the longest time I wanted to become a librarian, but then I found out you have to go to college to become one and that kind of did it for me. I never really understood why you had to go to college in order to put books in alphabetical order.

I plop myself down in one of Eric's comfy reading chairs and flip open my phone. After a few rings a familiar voice comes over the line. "Edgington Manor this is Betty Joe how can I help you today?"

"Hey there Betty Joe, its Sookie. Is Russell around and able to take my call?"

"Sookie? Sookie Stackhouse?"

"Well how many Sookies do you know Betty Joe? I would imagine that it isn't a very common name."

"No I guess you're right," she laughs. "Is it really important? He is in a meeting but I will get him for you if it is a must."

"Yeah, unfortunately it is important. I am in a bit of a pickle and I need him to come and help me out. Besides, you know that he would just tan your hide if you didn't tell him I was on the phone."

"Too true my little southern belle, you always are so much fun. Will I get to join in on your latest intrigue this time or will you keep it all for yourself?"

"Umm, well, I don't see why you can't join in the fun of watching me get bonded to a Mr. Eric Northman and save my ass from the king of Nevada."

A loud squeal comes over the phone and I can picture little Betty Joe dressed to the nines like Jackie O spinning in place. "Oh, I knew you would be bringing me fun when I answered the phone. Oh Sook I can't wait! This is going to be sooo much fun. Wait, did you say Eric Northman? Ohhhh Sook, that is one hunk of a man you are going to bond yourself to. However did you manage to get Mr. Stoic himself to bond with you?"

"Just lucky I guess. We kind of just clicked and well, now we are going to bond. Well it is kind of a political thing, but even if we could take our time and not rush into it I know that we would still be bonding. I don't know what it is about him but it kind of feels like fate."

"Well you couldn't have picked a better man to protect you and be your partner. He's very old and very powerful, and if I remember right he is one of the oldest in the whole U.S. No one really understands why he hasn't taken a position of power beyond a simple sheriff position. And as far as I know he has never had a bonded either. Actually everything I have ever heard about him tells me he is a very decent man, for a vampire that is. He is tough but fair, and compared to some he is downright compassionate. You are a lucky woman."

"Don't I know it Betty, but if you don't get Russell on this phone I won't be honey." I laugh.

"Oh okay I will go get him. Make sure you ask if I can come to please Sookie. I really want to see you finally let some lucky vamp snap you up."

"Okay okay I will." I hear her little stiletto heels click and clack across his marble foyer, and into what I assume must be Russell's office when the sound of them ceases. Very muted I hear Betty Joe say, "Excuse me your majesty, but Sookie Stackhouse is on the phone with a matter most urgent. Would you like to take the call?"

"Excuse me gentleman I must take this call." I hear the hustle and bustle of people moving around and out of his office, and he must be meeting with humans, because I find that vampires never make that much noise. When everything quieted down I hear the dulcet tones of my dear friend Russell come over the line. If he weren't gay I would have tried to snap him up for myself long ago. What is that saying…the good ones are always gay or taken? In Russell's case both are true. Not only is he as gay as the day is long, but he is also very happily married to king of Missouri. "Sookie my love, what is this urgent matter that you must pull me out of my very important meeting?"

"Oh come off it Russell, I know you too well. You were just dying for an excuse to get out of that meeting love. Humans bore the pants right off of you. That is why you keep so many cute little tidbits around your beautiful home."

Russell laughs his deep honey bear laugh. I don't know why but I always picture him as a jolly bear from an old cartoon. Kind of like Pooh but not quite so dumb, a pooh bear with fangs and a vampire's cunning nature. Scary right? "Too true my dear, but some of them were very fine in their Calvin Kleins."

"Oh please tell me you didn't have them parading around in their underwear Russell."

"Of course not, but the mental images where just priceless. Besides I don't keep nearly as many beaus around now that I am a happily married man."

"And that is how it should be darling. No more afternoon delight with random people for you."

"Yes, yes I know I must be a good little house husband now."

I instantly start laughing. "Oh my god Russell I just had the perfect picture of you in a pink frock with huge pearls making meatloaf. Remind me that I must buy you some very cute pearls the next time I see you. We will go shopping and you can surprise your darling honey with it."

"Ohhhh that sounds like fun, but Sookie what is meatloaf?"

"Well, meatloaf is where you take hamburger, ground up cow, form it in a kind of lump**,** slather it with some catsup, tomatoes, and bake it in the oven. Don't worry darling I will teach you how to do it. Maybe we can come up with some kind of alternative recipe for you and your honey."

"Oh I can't wait darling. You are the best fag hag I have ever had around."

"If I didn't know you meant that as a compliment I would be insulted darling."

"Oh poo you know I love you. Now, tell me what this urgent matter is. Not that I don't love it when you call but I know you well enough that if it wasn't important you wouldn't have had Betty Joe interrupt my meeting. So spill girl what's going on?"

I sigh deeply. "Well, I guess there is a ton, so do you want the good or the bad first?"

"I don't like the sound of that sigh. What's going on Sookie? Is Nevada trying to get you to come out there again?"

"Not yet, I am trying to prevent that, but its part of the reason that I called you tonight."

"Okay Sook give me the good news first. From the sound of your voice I don't think I want the bad news. Let this old dog have a bit of sunshine before you ruin his whole night."

"I'm in love and I am going to be bonded, like forever permanent never ending bond."

Russell squeals just as loudly as Betty Joe did earlier. "Oh my god, this is wonderful! So who is the lucky Vampire? Please tell me it's not that ass Bill Compton."

"No Russell it is definitely not Bill. That asshole has sunk to a whole new level but that is part of my bad news."

"So who's the lucky vampire then? Any one that I know?"

"I don't know if you know him but, wow, what a man."

"Sookie you're killing me who is it? Please the anticipation is killing me."

"Oh if you must know it's the very gorgeous Viking…" before I can even say Eric's name Russell squeals like a little girl again.

"OH MY GOD SOOKIE STACKHOUSE YOU'RE BONDING WITH ERIC NORTHMAN AREN'T YOU?"

I pull the phone slightly away from my ear, his voice having caused a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in my eardrums. "Yes, I take it that you know who I am talking about then."

"Wow Sook if I didn't already respect you so much I would say that my respect for you just shot up tenfold. He is very … mmmm nummy. I have been trying to get my hooks into him for almost 250 years. Amazing. So when did you meet Mr. Tall, Blonde, and Delicious?"

"You're going to laugh Russell, but I met him today at the Hot Shot wedding I told you about."

"OH MY GOD SOOKIE, no way. You met him tonight and you're already going to do the permanent bond? Wow girl you move fast."

I giggle. "Well when I see something I want I go for it balls to the wall baby."

"I would say so."

"No really though it was so weird, I saw him and it was like lightning. I just knew that he was my perfect match. It was really kind of insane and normally by now, you know me, I would be having all my little inklings of running for the hills. Or I would be doubting all my feelings, and myself, but there isn't one single doubt in my head. If I didn't know that I couldn't be glamoured I would say that I was. I just threw myself at him and already started the bonding process. I know that we are just meant to be. It's like he is the missing piece in my jigsaw puzzle that I didn't know was missing."

"Sookie, it sounds like this guy is your soul mate by the way you are talking about him," Russell says, his tone turning serious.

"Yeah, I guess that is as good a word for it as anything else. Can I tell you something Russell?"

"Anything love," he says sweetly.

"I was ready to pack it in before I saw him. I was ready to just give it all up. I am so tired Russell. I have been fighting everyone else's battles for so long all on my own. I am just tired. Tonight, if Eric hadn't have been there, I would have just gone over to the dark side. I just got to the point where I didn't care anymore. Really, I see so much death. Do the tiny little things that I do make so much difference that it would really matter if I just stopped caring? I'm just tired Russell."

"Sookie," he says softly. I can hear the kindness in his voice. "Honey I know you never asked for this life, but this is the life that you have. You're destined to be the savior of us all, your destiny is to unite the worlds and do great things by leading us all down the path of righteous. If you are not leading the charge my darling we all will lose. Sook, you are unique. Your fairy blood mixed with human has given you great power. Your ability to look at us all for exactly who we are, not just what we are, is unique. You inspire us all, and you bind us all together. I know you're weary darling but there is still much fighting to be done. Soon, hopefully, you will be over the big hill with just small dips in the road ahead of you. It sounds to me like the powers that be knew you were on the verge of giving up and that is why they sent you Eric. I wouldn't put it past those tricky sisters to make it so that you have to live up to your destiny."

"There has just been so much. So many betrayals, so many deaths, so many injuries to myself and others. I was extremely tempted when Quinn told me just to come with him and be Bil's little slave girl. I am tired of seeing all the death."

"Okay, before I get to the last part of that appalling statement, darling you should have just told me what was going on with you. I know that you don't like to let anyone share your burdens because you view that as silly and weak, but that is what friends are for and Sookie, my darling, you are my friend. You just seem to bring back the humanity in every Vampire you meet. I have never seen so many Vampires be so fond of a human. Every one of us that you meet swears that they will lay their lives down for you. It is truly amazing. There is not a single being that knows you that won't move heaven and earth to help you whenever you call. All you have to do is ask."

"I know, you just know how I am, thick headed is one term that I believe has been used for me on many occasions. Don't think for one moment that I don't appreciate it."

"Pisshh I know you do. Now did you say Bill tried to take you tonight and that Quinn came to take you? How did this little mish mash turn out? Is that tiger still alive so that I can play with him and make him pay for trying to take my girl?"

"No, he's dead Russell, I dispatched the traitor myself. With a little help from Eric's beautiful knife no less."

"I knew those sword lessons would pay off. How are you feeling about taking out the tiger?"

"As peachy as I always do after killing someone. I did what had to be done and honestly, for the first time, although I feel some guilt, it isn't nearly as bad because Eric was there to lean on in the aftermath of the battle."

"So what happened love?"

"John showed up with almost 90 weres and shifters to the wedding posing as fellowship members. They drug the fellowship out there as a front. I am not really sure why he would do that, it doesn't really make a ton of sense, but then again I haven't given it much thought. Anyways, he came for me, told me that Bill wants to complete the bonding, and maybe turn me."

"Well that would be a pretty stupid thing for him to do seeing as how Niall has made it known to all of the kings and queens that you are kin, and that if any of us turn you without your consent or harm you in any way, hell will rain down on our heads."

"Great, just great. That is bound to stir up the hornet's nest. Who all knows about this?"

"Only the kings and queens love, that way if any of us hear rumors that someone within our kingdom is getting ready to move against you we can act. I think it is both positive and negative. It adds a little bit of extra protection on you but it won't stop the determined. Not all of us are good and the Brigant family has enemies. So what is the plan to deal with Bill?"

"Right now there is no real plan, we need to find the snake first and at this moment there are only rumors of him being hidden somewhere in Tennessee. Part of the reason for the quick bonding is so that I have some extra protection from Bill. Once Eric is bonded with me Bill can't touch me without getting put to his final death by the tribunal. Not to mention that I feel like the king is too interested in bringing me to Nevada. If I am bound to Eric then he can't take me away."

Russell is silent for a long moment thinking over my words. "Is this the only reason you want to bond with Eric dear heart?"

"OF COURSE NOT! I love him Russell. It is weird for me to say that after such a short time but I do. I love that man. I want to be bonded to him."

"Good, so what is that I can do for you darling?"

"We need you to come out here tomorrow with the ceremonial knife and bind us. It will only be our second exchange but if we do the formal ceremony no one will dare touch me."

"For the bond to be permanent you have to do all three love."

"I know, I know, but we can't do it all in one day. It will just have to wait until the next night."

"Good. After we get off the phone I will make arrangements to be out there first thing tomorrow night. Right after sunset. Are you going to come and get me at the airport?"

"Of course darling I wouldn't miss picking you up for anything. Oh, and if anyone asks you were already scheduled to come out for a trade agreement in progress with Eric's area. Something about wanting to use all your beautiful beau's in his Fangtasia calendar."

"Oh that is a wonderful idea. Maybe I will actually do that. Business and pleasure all in one night. OH OH OH! And Sook? I am going to take you shopping when I get there so we can get you a beautiful dress to wear at the bonding. Eric will be blown away, and I happen to know a thing or two about some of the culture and traditions that your darling bonded comes from. Oh he will be blown away. Hmmm I will have to put some thought into this. One of the things a traditional Viking wedding entails is the exchange of swords and you have yet to receive yours yet. I will get on this right away darling."

"Russell if I didn't know any better I would say you are more excited than I am."

"Well I didn't exactly get to be a bride so now I have you."

"Just what you always wanted, your very own life size Barbie doll**,**" I laugh**.**

"Of course."

"Oh, you know what, I just thought of something."

"What's that darling?"

"Is there any way you could send out some feelers to see if we can locate Bill**?** I think that we need to deal with him very soon. Before he gets any of my friends killed, or actually succeeds in kidnapping me."

"Hmmm well you said he might be in Tennessee right?"

"Yes that's what Quinn said anyways."

"I will make a few phone calls and see what I can do. I am also going to call Washington State**.** I seem to remember that he holed up out there for a while with Lorena. It is possible that he has some property out there that he is hiding out on."

"Thanks Russell."

"You're most welcome my little fairy princess."

"Oh stop it. I will see you tomorrow. Have your day man leave me a message on my voice mail letting me know what time your flight is coming in. I will make sure to be there when you arrive."

"Absolumont."

"Love you darling kiss kiss."

"Kiss kiss."

My body became stiff from sitting in that chair for so long, and I used all of my muscles way too much this evening to not have stretched properly. If my sword master knew I had so abused my body he would whack me with the flat of his blade right across my rump. I stand up and start the familiar routine of stretches that my sword master pushes me through. I can just make out Eric's low rumbling voice on the other side of the door. He must still be talking with Felipe. Gods please let him not try and take me away from Eric. It is good to know that my great-grandfather has put some kind of protection in place for me though. Surely he wouldn't allow me to be whisked away to Vegas and held against my will.

I don't know that much about my great-grandfather and his life. I really am still wary of what being his relation entails. He never gives me all the answers that I ask for and now he has made it known that I am a princess in the fairy line, whatever that means. Does he really expect me to take the throne someday? There is no way I want to take the throne in Faery. I love my life too much, and besides, I don't think they would take too kindly to my husband being a vampire.

A worry for another day. Right now I want to get back to my big gorgeous man. I can hear that he has ended his conversation and I am actually excited about getting to see Russell tomorrow and go shopping with him. He has the best taste. The fact that he is going to help us without a second thought is really exciting as well. I am actually smiling from ear to ear when I come back into the room. Eric is sitting with his head in his hands on our bed. He looks like he just had the worst news in the world. "Eric honey what's wrong?"

"So my little fairy princess I think you have some explaining to do don't you?" I freeze instantly in place. I can't decide what to do. Do I run? I can't tell if he is pissed or threatening me. What the hell am I supposed to do? My heart rate jumps up and I feel like I have just run ten miles. Oh gods please I can't take another heartbreak. What if he won't want me now that he has discovered my origins? My breath comes faster and faster and I can see darkness start to cloud my vision. I want to run away from this pending heartache but I just can't move. My world starts to spin and everything goes black.

"Sookie!" I feel someone shake me slightly, but everything is still black and I notice that almost every muscle in my body hurts. "Sookie please, I didn't mean to scare you love. Please be okay Gods please let her be okay." I feel cool liquid hit my face and with every drop I become more and more conscious of my surroundings. I can tell that I am being partially supported in Eric's arms and the rest of me is sprawled out on the floor of his room. "Mmmm"

"Oh thank you Gods. Sookie, lover, are you okay?"

I slowly crack open one eye, and the bright light of the room makes my head throb. "Eric, the light." He immediately scoops me up and lays me on his bed. I hear him flit about the room turning the lights down or off. When I feel the bed indent next to me I take the chance of slowly cracking open my eyes again. "Better?" he asks.

"Much thank you. What happened?" I look over at Eric and I notice that he has dark streaks down his face. I bolt upright and pull him tight to me. "Oh my God Eric what's happened to you? What's wrong?" I lean back slightly and look in his eyes; he was crying again. I gently wipe away his tears. "Baby what's wrong?"

He chuckles softly. "Did you just call me baby?"

"Well yeah." I can feel my eyebrows pushing together in concern.

"I am over a thousand years old Sookie, I am definitely no baby."

I run my hands threw his hair playing with it idly. "It's a pet name you know. Kind of like darlin' or sweetheart or honey. Is it really that bad?"

He cups my cheek and says, "I don't care what you call me as long as you forgive me for scaring you so badly. I am so sorry my love. I didn't mean to scare you. If anything would have happened to you…"

"Sshh I'm fine, I'm just sorry I didn't tell you. I thought you were angry with me for not being honest with you and, well, I panicked. I thought for sure that you were going to leave me when you found out that I was related to Niall. I just don't think I could handle loosing you Eric, I'm not strong enough." I can feel my traitorous tears pouring down my face. Just the thought of loosing Eric is hurting my heart and I can feel my heart starting to race again and my breathing speed up.

"Sookie calm down you're going to faint again." He pulls me tightly to him and rocks me gently. "I will never leave you. You are Mine and I am Yours. Besides, if everything I found out tonight is true then it is our destiny to be together. I don't think the fates would allow us to be separated from each other. I love you Sookie."

"I love you to Eric." We lay there in each other's arms just enjoying being wrapped up together. Eventually my breathing slows and I fall into a blissful sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Notes:

Thank you as always for your reviews. They make this writer very proud. You all are the best. Enjoy the new chapter and don't forget to tell me what you think, be it good, bad, or indifferent.

All right I know I said Tuesdays would be update day, but I just couldn't resist updating early. I am really excited to see all of your reactions to this chapter. I was so excited that I couldn''t wait another day. I have been sitting on this chapter ready to go for 4 days already. 24 more hours seemed like death to me. hehe. I can't promise that I will do Mondays every week, but next week I definitely will. Seeings how the next chapters (for this story and my other story The Shadows of Doubt *cough shameless plug cough*) are already in my editors hot little hands getting poured over for errors.

Much love from the west coast,

Lilli

**Chapter 6**

Sometime later I awoke to the sounds of Justin singing about how he wants his sexy back. After a minute the song went away and I was just falling back to sleep when it started up again. I realize that it is my cell and only one person has that ringtone. I reach blindly through the pitch black of the room in the direction of the sound. My fingers eventually close around the slim hard plastic that was my cell phone. "Yeah," I murmur into the phone. It is a little grumpier then I would normally answer my phone, but it had been a long night and I am sure that my Gran would forgive this one instance of bad manners.

"Miss Stackhouse this is Angela Russell's day person. I'm sorry if I woke you but Russell left strict instructions that I call you with all of the details of when we would be landing. He even insisted that I use his cell to call you something about how you would never answer for anyone else if you were sleeping."

"Okay, so umm what time will you be getting in?"

"We will be landing at Shreveport air hanger in about two hours."

"Two hours?! What time is it?"

"It's three Miss."

"Great," I sigh deeply. "Well if I am going to be there on time I better get my butt up out of bed. Did you have anything else that Russell told you to tell me?"

"Well, he said wear something extra comfortable, something easy to take on and off. He said ya'll would be shopping after he rose for the evening."

"Alright fine, I will see you later then. Thank you Angela."

"It's my job ma'am. I will see you there."

"Mhm bye." Angela hung up the phone without even saying goodbye. Lordy, didn't anyone have manners anymore? I feel Eric's arm snake around my waist and pull me to him. "Who was that?" he asks sleepily.

I jump slightly. "Jesus Eric, you scared the hell out of me. Aren't you supposed to be, for all intents and purposes, dead to the world right now?"

"I can wake while the sun is up but it's hard to stay awake. Who was that on the phone?"

"Russell's day person telling me that they would be landing in two hours at the airport."

Eric kisses my neck softly. "Does that mean you have to get out of bed?"

"Yes honey if I have any hope of getting there on time I have to put my ass in gear and get ready."

"Mmkay, there is a note in the bathroom for you." And just like that he is back to sleep. I roll in his arms so that I am facing him. God he really was the most gorgeous example of manhood I had ever seen. I reach up and start to play with his beautiful golden locks. It was really amazing how his hair was the exact same color as mine. And it was so soft as well; you wouldn't think that a man's hair would be so soft. You wouldn't think that this manly man would take such good care of his hair.

I run my fingers down and along his chiseled jaw line and feel just the tiniest bit of stubble there, but instead of being harsh and rough it is just as soft as the hair on his head. How he managed that was a mystery; every man that I had ever encountered with a five o'clock shadow was always as rough as sandpaper. But not Eric, his was as soft as a feather. Well at least I will never have to worry about getting stubble burn on my body, because believe me that hurts. I only had to deal with it one time but it took forever to heal.

I let my hand travel further south to the hallow dips and curves of his collarbone and shoulders, even the cute little dip in his throat and the large bulge of his Adam's apple. Everything about him is like it is made just for me. If I had to picture a perfect man he would have looked just like this. I trace the outlines of his massive muscles on his arms and chest lightly. I can't believe how much of my ideal man he is. Everything about him is, for lack of a better term, perfect. Just lying here, touching him and thinking about how perfect he is, I find myself being incredibly turned on. I wish that I could just throw him down right now and ravage that beautiful body of his. I lightly kiss his chest and I hear him let out a low moan. "Sookie … not fair." I feel his lower body twitch to life.

"Can I help it if you are so gorgeous that I want to ravage you even in your sleep?" I try to roll away but Eric grips my waist tighter so that I can't move.

"I am that tempting?" He rolls his hips slightly, and I can feel his hard length grind against me. I moan softly.

"Oh yes," I say a little more breathy than I intended.

"That's good," he laughs. I can feel his arm relaxing around me as he is drifting back to sleep.

I nibble one quick hard bite on his ear and he growls softly at me. "I bet I can think of ways to keep you awake."

"It's not fair though, I can hardly keep my eyes open. I am barely able to move."

"Hmm… that could be fun," I laugh wickedly. I push gently on his shoulders so that he rolls onto his back. "You know, I bet I can think of ways to keep you awake just long enough." I straddle his waist and slowly run my tongue over those beautiful chest and stomach muscles. Eric growls a low grumble of sound that makes his muscles twitch and vibrate on my tongue. I can't help but giggle against his firm belly.

"Oh … just … you … wait… woman," he says sleepily.

I can't help but to laugh again and slowly take his long shaft into my mouth in one quick movement. The head of his large shaft hits the back of my throat, and I pull him out of my mouth just as quickly as I swallowed it down. Continuing to pump him gently, yet firmly, I say, "Oh, what is my big bad Vampire going to do to me? I kind of like this, you being at my total mercy."

I quickly climb his body and straddle him and notice my darling is already drifting back off to sleep. I tangle my hands in his hair and yank just the slightest bit. "Now now darling, no falling asleep before I am done." I slam myself down on him hard and quick, and Eric throws his head back and moans loudly.

"Fuck Sook." I quickly find my rhythm and I feel myself quickly approaching my orgasm. "Are you going to cum with me baby?" I whisper in his ear and nip it once hard.

"Oh Sookie." He flings his hands onto my hips and helps guide me back and forth quicker and quicker and just like that my walls tighten and I am thrown over the edge into blissful oblivion. "YES!" I scream my orgasm to heaven. As the last wave of my orgasm subsides Eric bucks his hips once and I feel his own orgasm pour into me. I kiss his cheek softly and say, "Thanks baby that was fun. I will see you tonight."

"You're … in … so…" but what I was in I never found out because he quickly drifted back off to sleep. I lean forward and kiss his cheek softly. "I love you baby." I climb off the bed and tuck him in nice and snug, I don't want my baby getting cold, and find my way to the bathroom. First things first I want to brush my teeth. I turn towards the huge double sinks that are sitting on the wall to my left and I see a huge bouquet of red tulips and roses sitting on the counter. How he managed to get tulips this time of year beats me but they are beautiful.

I inhale the fragrance deeply and they smell just as heavenly as they look. I always hate it when you buy flowers and they have no smell. Flowers should have some kind of scent. I was never quite sure why some flowers that you can buy in the store don't have a scent, but it never seems quite right that they don't smell. I haven't gotten a lot of flowers, but the few that I have always end up going the way of the garbage can because they don't smell like real flowers. Flowers aren't just meant to be beautiful.

Nestled in the flowers is a heavy parchment folded in half with my name in a large script. I pull the almost canvas-like parchment out of the bouquet.

My Darling Sookie,

By the time you read this no doubt I will be sleeping for the day. On the next page of this letter you will find the necessary codes in order to leave the estate. Please make yourself at home anything I have here is yours as well. In the garage you will find several different cars for you to use during the day. Might I suggest though that you use either the Hummer or Land Rover**,** seeing as you will be picking up Russell and his party today at the airport.

On the next page you will also find the address for the airport. I have a GPS system in all of my cars so you shouldn't have too many issues finding your way around. When you are ready to come home just say home and the GPS will automatically plot your course here no matter where you are.

Also Russell had said something about you and him going shopping before you come back for our bonding ceremony tonight. I took the liberty of giving you several addresses to different malls in the area that you can go shopping at. If none of the addresses that I have given you suit your needs**,** use the yellow pages feature on the GPS. Or if you want you can just call me and tell me what kind of shop you are looking for and I will find the address for you.

There is a wall safe in my room behind the Van Gouh painting. Please feel free to grab some cash to spend. I have already contacted my day man Bobby with all of your pertinent information so that you can be added to my bank accounts, and so that you won't have to worry about not having cash if you need it. I also gave Bobby your cell phone number so that he can contact you if need be. I also programmed my own cell phone number into yours so you can contact me as well. If you need anything and I am not awake please call Bobby and let him know.

Most important have fun today my darling, I cannot wait to see you tonight. From what Russell was saying he has quite a treat in store for me tonight. I can hardly wait. I love you Sookie.

Love Always

E

P.S. Darling I left some clothes for you tucked in my closet. I hope that you find them to your liking. I realized last night that you didn't have anything to change into after we arrived so I had my child Pam pick some things up for you. Please enjoy, and pick yourself up some things to have here for the next few days until we can get out to your house and pick up the rest of your belongings.

I rush through a shower in a better mode than I have been in for ages, after all things are looking up. I have a great man whom, for all intents and purposes, I am marrying tonight; sure it is a little weird that we have only known each other one day, but still. He is more than willing to take care of me and every girl wants security in a man. Even if you love them to death, if you have to struggle with money it makes the going that much harder.

My best gay friend in the world is coming in from out of town and is taking me shopping. Life in general is looking up. I'm not kidding myself, there will be tons of troubles coming my way, but at least now I won't have to be doing it by myself anymore. I have Eric to watch my back and the thought of that just makes me breathe a little easier.

I grab Eric's letter along with the codes and go back into the bedroom. I stuff the letter into my purse, which is lying on the bedside table on what I would guess is now my side of the bed, along with my cell. I didn't have a lot of time to explore last night, and there are several doors off of Eric's main bedroom besides the ones that led to his library and bathroom. There are two more to the right and two more to the left that I haven't peaked into.

Choices, choices. I decide to start on my left and the first one I opens leads into a small office space with all that an office entails – desk, file cabinets, fax machine, photo copier, printer, office phone, and the standard computer. The room itself is very utilitarian, all muted grays and dark charcoals. I am not about to be snoopy and look through this room so I quickly about-face it out of there and pull the door shut.

The next door leads into an honest to God theater room with a ten-foot screen and several rows of posh theater chairs, and off in the corner was an honest to goodness popcorn maker along with a soda machine. Although what a vampire did with a soda machine and popcorn maker beat the hell out of me. Perhaps Eric just had a twisted sense of humor; he didn't really strike me as the type to entertain much. Although how would I really know? I have a sudden flash of jealousy, darn it Sook get it together, it's not like you didn't entertain some before you met him.

What is in the past stays in the past, you cannot expect a man as fine as Eric to have as little experience in the ways of dating as you. Just because you were a virgin the majority of your life doesn't mean that he was, heck the man is over a thousand years old! How impractical would it be for you to think that he was a virgin until recently? Little tendrils of doubt and self-consciousness creep into my head. What if I didn't live up to his standards? I sigh a little. _You know what Sook? You're being ridiculous. If you are really having these doubts, in a few hours you should discuss them with Eric._

I notice that the room is covered in a ton of different movie posters from almost floor to ceiling. Although instead of the typical vampire posters that I would have expected, they are for movies like _Titanic_, _Powder_, _Flash Dance_, and _Gone with the Wind_, all of which would not be considered your typical vampire fair; if anything I would have called them chick flicks. I snicker to myself. Oh Eric was going to get holy hell for this one; I was going to tease him for years.

I leave this room quickly as well and make my way across the hall to the first door on the wall directly across from the theater room. I open the door and flick on the light only to find a mostly empty walk in closet. When I say walk in I mean bigger than my entire bedroom back home. It is enormous. Rows upon rows of racks and nooks and crannies and various shelves to store things. There are also a few boxes in the center of the room. I peak inside the boxes and find some clothing that clearly belongs to Eric. From the looks of the haphazard way the clothing is thrown into the box, I think he just threw his clothing into them quickly.

I make my way to the last door, why is it that what you are looking for is always in the last place you look for it? It's inevitable; one time I was looking for a cd, because my brother had taken them all out of their cases and just stacked them up in a ton of different piles throughout my bedroom. So in accordance to the last place I would look law, I actually thought about how I would normally go about looking through my cd's and did the opposite. Of course though in this particular case it wasn't in the last first place I looked it was still in the last place I looked just like always. After that I figured heck, I had put way too much thought into that and if I would have just stuck to the order I would have normally done I would have found it within two minutes instead of twenty.

I walk in through the last door and find an even bigger closet than the last I was in, it was easily double the size and every single inch of it was filled with clothes. Talk about a pack rat. I think Eric and I will have to have some serious discussions about his clothes hording. There is a little bit of everything from every possible era that I knew of, and some that I didn't. Plus in the very back of the closet are easily fifty or sixty boxes, and if I could reach the top one to open it up I would wager that it was full of more clothes. I mean really, how many clothes did one man need? He is worse than my friend Tara but at least she has excuses for one, she's a girl, and for two, she owns her own clothing store. It isn't just clothing in here either, there is rack after rack of clothes and ties and various other men's accessories. Not to mention that there is a huge drawer system that held a ton of watches and cufflinks and earrings and necklaces. This man definitely had a panache for fine clothes and jewels and if I didn't know any better I would say he was gay.

Tucked into a corner right in the front of the closet are twelve bags full of women's clothing. Bag after bag is filled with various dresses and jeans and cute little half shirts, not to mention a ton of swim suits along with more lingerie than I owned. Typically I just slept in an overly large shirt that was older then dirt. All this lingerie is full of lace and frills. Not that any of it was in poor taste or anything, I just wouldn't buy for myself. I never had the inclination to throw what little money that I did have down the drain on frilly lace that no one was ever going to see anyways. In the last bag are two notes, the first is in Eric's familiar script and the other is in a handwriting I don't recognize. I flip Eric's open first.

My Darling Sookie,

Please feel free to move your things into the other closet that I am sure you found on the hunt for this closet. Organize everything in whatever way you see fit. That will be your closet at least until we can get a better one made for you. I am going to have to do some redesigning of our living space but I want you to have an ample amount of room for all of your things.

Love always,

E

Seriously I did not need more space than what was already there, how many clothes did he think I had? I will definitely have to have a talk with him about the amount of space that most people typically have for their clothing. Oh I can't wait until he actually sees my closet in the farmhouse. I flip open the second note.

**Sookie,**

**Although we haven't been formally introduced I am most pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Pam I am Eric's child and I am sure we will be seeing a lot of each other. I have picked up a few things that I hope you find most pleasing. Although I wasn't sure what size you wore so I made a rough guess from what little I saw of you last night. Also if you look behind the bags you will find several boxes that contain various shoes for the different outfits. Again I wasn't sure of your size so I hope that they work for you.**

**If any of the clothing or under things I acquired do not fit you please put them to the side so that we can exchange them for the proper sizes later. From what Eric told me you seem to enjoy shopping since you are going to be accompanying King Russell to the mall tonight before your nuptials. Perhaps you will do me the honor of accompanying me at some point in the near future on a girl's day/night out? I look forward to getting to know you better.**

**Pamela Ravenscourt**

Wow, I could really get used to all of this. Neither Bill nor Quinn ever thought about the fact that perhaps I could use some help with various things. Heck most of the time I bought my clothing at Wal-mart. Not that there is anything wrong with Wal-mart but a girl does love to have a brand new dress from Macy's once and awhile. I riffle through the various bags, most of the clothing is way too dressy just to wear for a day, or rather night, out shopping with Russell. I finally come across the perfect dress. It is very down home on the farm dressy and I have almost the exact same dress at home. Although the dress that I owned wasn't made of nearly the same quality of fabric; this dress is a cute little halter number that leaves my back bare with straps that tie at the nape of my neck. It has a sweetheart neckline, which is one of my favorite designs because it reminds me of a heart and shows off just the right amount of my very ample cleavage.

The design made makes it look like one of those little red handkerchiefs that old men wore wear hanging out there back pocket, but the material was is as soft as silk. The skirt flared flares out perfectly and twirled twirls just the right amount to show off thigh but not enough to get a peek at the cute little red lace panties that I had chosen to match the dress. Fortunately the bodice of the dress had has a built in bra and was is tight enough to hold the girls in just the right position. It is a good thing I know for a fact that Russell is gay because knowing him he is going to want to help me in and out of all the clothing that I am going to be trying on tonight.

I look over at the clock and see that I only have about a half hour until sunset and I need to book it to the airport quickly. I find a pair of platform wedges that matched the dress perfectly, throw them on quickly, and run full out up the stairs making sure to have my purse and locking up all the various doors behind me as I go. It wouldn't do for my soon to be hubby to get taken unawares just because I forgot to lock up a few doors. I run in the direction of where I am almost positive the garage is and notice that there is another small bouquet of flowers with a note in them for me.

My Darling Sookie,

The garage is off to your left of these flowers, the light switch is just inside the door**,** and there is a large cabinet with the car keys just above that. All of the keys are labeled with the various models**.** Please take whatever your little heart desires. I can't wait to see you again tonight my love.

Love Always,

E

He is so stinking sweet, I love all of these little notes that he's leaving me. I wonder if he will do that every day. It is just the most lovely thing I have ever had done for me. I mean the flowers and clothes were absolutely lovely but I had never had anyone leave me love notes before. I sigh to myself softly; I was a really lucky girl to have found Eric Northman. I rush through the large kitchen, through the double doors into a garage; I flip on the light and realize that the damn garage is larger than my entire house. Damn how many cars does one person actually need? I shake my head slightly, it looks like Eric definitely has issues with collecting things.

I turn to the large cabinet and scan through the various keys; I quickly find the Hummer keys when I catch a familiar name in the edges of my vision. "NO WAY!" Mustang, Shelby, 64' "NO FRIGGIN WAY DOES HE HAVE THAT CAR!" I grab the keys off the ring and click the alarm button. I follow the chirp chirp of the alarm and there she is, a Cherry Red with Black racing stripe Shelby Mustang, with a blower in the hood and a little scoop on her trunk. I had only ever seen her in pictures; this piece of fine machinery was my dream car. Everything about her is perfect even her interior is perfect in light tan suede with black piping.

I know I am running short on time but I had to hear her just once. I quickly unlock the door and slide into the driver's seat. Just sitting there behind her wheel and I am dripping wet. I am not sure what it was about this car but just the thought of her gets me going. She is even convertible; Eric must have had her converted because the soft shell was not standard issue with her. I put the keys into the ignition with trembling fingers; I hadn't been this nervous when I lost my virginity. I slowly turn her over and she roars to life and I let my head fall backwards and have an instant orgasm. Jesus H Christ, the engine was perfect. She rumbled and roared at just the right pitch; Eric obviously took very good care of her. I could just sit here all night and listen to her purr.

I am seriously contemplating doing just that when my phone rings. "Damn it." I fumble in my purse and notice it is from someone named Bobby. Who the heck is Bobby? "Hello"

"Miss Stackhouse Bobby Burnham here, Eric's day man."

"Oh yeah he told me you would be calling, what's up." I kill the engine on the Shelby looking at her longingly, I really wish I could take her but there is no way I could fit all of Russell's party into my beloved Eleanor. I replace the keys quickly and jump into the Hummer, punch in the cords on the GPS**,** and head out. All the while chatting with Bobby.

"Mr. Northman asked me to call you and see if there was anything that you needed me to do for you?"

"Like what Bobby?"

"I don't know Miss Stackhouse. Mr. Northman said that you were going to be moving in with him after tonight. So maybe something pertaining to that, oh also I will be swinging by tomorrow afternoon at some point to have you sign some important paperwork as well as a prenuptial agreement."

"Really Bobby, a pre-nup? Hmm can I ask did Eric ask you to draw up that pre-nup?"

"Well … no … but I thought it was …"

"You thought. Well excuse me if this sounds rude but I really don't think it is your job to think it is your job to do what Mr. Northman, and now I, tell you to do. As a matter of a fact as soon as Eric rises for the evening I will be filling him in on this little indiscretion of yours and we shall see if you have a job come sundown tomorrow evening. How does that sound Mr. Burnham?"

"Oh NO please don't do that Miss. Stackhouse I will shred the document tonight, I fucked up."

"I will remind you that I am a lady and I will not have you using curse words with me Mr. Burnham."

"Sorry Miss. Stackhouse, really I didn't mean to insult you in anyway. Please don't tell Mr. Northman. Is there anything that you need me to do for you anything at all that will make up for this?"

"Actually now that you mention it, since I am going to be moving into my husband's house I need you to organize a few things for me. I am going to need a moving van at my house, although you will have to contact Eric as to when that will exactly be needed. Also I will need you to draw up rental papers in my friend Amelia's name, I will text you with her phone number so that you may contact her. As for the amount of rent work it out with her. Tell her that I said she doesn't have to pay any more then she is paying now but that she needs to come up with whatever she wants to pay and fill that in. Make sure to remind her that all the utilities will need to be transferred into her name and have her let me know when she will be able to do that. If for some reason she cannot do it for awhile tell her that I will leave them in my name for the next six months. So she has that long to figure everything out. Oh and tell her that I will continue to pay my part of all the utilities for the next three months so she is not left high and dry."

"Is there any specific stipulations that you want put in the rental agreement?"

"Not really, she is free to have new roommates as long as she knows that she is responsible for whomever she brings into the house. She can paint or re-wallpaper if she wants but no knocking down walls. If she wants to do any major work like replacing tiles of something make sure that she knows she has to let me know first and that I will help to pay for that. Beyond that I am not really sure, ask her she would know what a rental agreement should look like she is a land lord herself."

"Is that really wise ma'am?"

"See there you go again Bobby thinking when you're just supposed to be doing."

"Sorry ma'am, I will drop off your paperwork tomorrow afternoon as well as your new debit and credit cards."

"Actually Bobby I think it would be better if you wait until after I have spoken with Eric and we can decide when a good time for us will be."

"Yes ma'am just let me know when it will be convenient for the two of you to meet with me."

"I will Bobby thank you."

"You're welcome ma'am, have a good evening."

"I will Bobby, goodnight." I hang up the phone as I am pulling up the little air field with Russell's private plane just as the sun is setting behind the horizon. I hop out of the Hummer just as Russell and Betty Joe are coming off the plane. I am not even two steps out of the car when Russell drops his bags and zooms over to me scooping me up and swinging me out and around in a huge hug.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Sookie darling, it is so good to see you. You smell absolutely divine you naughty girl**.** What have you been up too?" He gently set me down leaving his hands on my shoulders and looking down at me.

I blush a brighter red than my dress. "Damn vampires and their damn sense of smell."

"SOOKIE! SUCH LANGUAGE!" he mock gasps.

I lean forward and lower my voice so that hopefully only Russell can hear and say**,** "He owns a Shelby Mustang, I couldn't help myself. I have never actually even seen one let alone gotten to start it up."

"Oh, does he know about your little affair with his pretty little Shelby?" He asks, winking at me.

"No and you won't dare tell him." Russell understood completely**.** One night him and I had stayed up until dawn talking about our secret obsessions with certain cars. Actually**,** now that I thought about it**…** "Hey Russell, you know what? I saw that Eric owns an Aston Martin as well, silver with blue piping to boot."

"He does not!"

"Yes he does," I smile wickedly at him; this was Russell's big O car. "I bet that I could persuade him to let you borrow it for you visit." Russell's eyes roll into the back of his head. "Down boy! You're going to make your hubby jealous. Is he here with you?"

"Unfortunately no," he pouts**,** "but he says that he can't wait to see you again, and he hopes that I can convince you and Eric to come out and join us for a little vacation soon."

"Oh definitely, we will have to talk with Eric to see when we can arrange it but it has been forever since I have seen both of ya'll in the same place. So where are we off to first? Do ya'll want to drop your things off at where ever ya'll are stayin' or what?"

"Well actually we are going to be staying with you and Eric at his house. His day man Bobby something called my girl Angela and made all of the arrangements."

"Ugghh, I do not like Bobby. He is rude and crass**.** Do you know he actually had the audacity of drawing up a prenuptial agreement without even talking with Eric first? He was treating me like I am some cheap whore off the street or something."

"Oh we can't have anyone treating our girl that way now can we Russell?" Betty Joe asks.

"Betty Joe**,** so good to see you again."

"And you too Sookie**.** Move over Russell I want to hug our girl." She grips me in a tight hug. "It is so good to see you again Sookie it has been too long."

"Yes it has been way to long Betty Joe**.** I hope you enjoyed your flight out."

"Always so polite. Yes I suppose it was good although I wouldn't really know, I was dead to the world for the whole trip," she snickers.

"Betty Joe your humor astounds me," I say.

"Yes, yes I have heard I am a laugh a minute."

"Come on ya'll put your stuff in the car and let's roll. I want to get a move on so that we can get back to the house." Every one immediately starts loading their things into the Hummer, and we are on our way to a mall that Russell says will have everything we need. He is also so kind as to load the cords into the GPS so that I won't have to worry about directions.

"So, Sookie do you think we will get to hear Bubba sing tonight?"

I notice in my peripheral vision Russell shooting Betty Joe an evil glare. "Actually," I say, "I haven't gotten to see Bubba at all since the takeover. I am not really sure what the new king has him up to. I really hope that he didn't move him out to Vegas to sing in the shows. You know how Bubba gets about singing."

"Hmmm," is Betty Joe's only response. Within fifteen minutes we have made our way to the mall that Russell had suggested. He whirls me from to store to store looking for just the right dresses and just the right lingerie for me to wear over the next few weeks. It seems like there is a never-ending waterfall of fabrics and lace being flung over my head and off again. After an hour and a half of this never-ending parade I am starting to get noticeably crabby with it all.

"Oh Darlin' we are almost done, we only have three more stops left and then we will get you back home," Russell says, clearly exasperated with my lack of enthusiasm.

"Russ it isn't that I don't love shopping but I haven't eaten at all today, or had any caffeine, and I haven't really spent any time with Eric at all tonight and, well, damn it these shoes are not the most comfortable."

"Didn't any one ever tell you that beauty is pain darling?" Betty Joe asks me.

"No my Gran always says beauty is as beauty does."

Russell raises one eyebrow to me. "And what does that mean?"

"It means that you are only as beautiful on the outside as you are on the inside."

Both Betty Joe and Russell just laugh. "Well that is too true, but it does help to have a nice wrapping. Ah here we are anyways, Marla's Beautiful Brides. Don't let the cheesy name fool you this is the best wedding Boutique down south. If we had time I would take you out to New York to get your dress, but since that isn't an option we will have to settle for second best. Now just you scoot yourself over there and have a seat and I will deal with everything. I will let you know when we are ready for you."

Russell and Betty Joe hustle off to intercept the sales lady from bothering me. They are having a very heated discussion; apparently Russell is being extremely specific in what he wants me to wear. My cell phone goes off and I dig in my purse rapidly to try and find it to silence it before it annoys the whole store. I don't know about anyone else but I hate cell phones, although the convenience of being able to be reached no matter where you are is great. However, having someone talk in the middle of a library about their gynecological appointment sucks.

I flip it open quickly to see I have a text from Eric. My whole face lights up; I am so happy just to have a text from him that I almost feel ridiculous. Almost. "U R in so much trouble," he says.

"Y? What did I do ;)"

"U now what you did!!!" he replies quickly.

":O I have no idea what u r talkin about love of my life"

"Takin advantage of me while I was sleepin thats what!" he says. I can just see the pout on his face.

"OHHH *bats eyelashes* I would never do such a thing :P"

"Don't u bat your eye lashes as me, u wait till I get a hold of u. U R A TEASE."

"Really? :O" I reply**.**

"Yes really."

"hmm u liked it and u know it."

"That's not the point." I can almost hear the growl in his voice.

"Do u want me 2 tease you some more? ;)"

"How can u possibly tease me worse?"

I laugh lightly. _Oh he has no idea…_ I think to myself. "lol go to your garage and tell me when you get there."

A few moments pass before I get the next text. "K now what?"

"Take out the keys to Shelby," I say.

"Shelby?"

"Shelby Mustang."

"O"

"Go and get in her."

A few moments later I receive another text. "What have u been up to in my car my sweet?!" I can just see him sitting in the Shelby, the smell of my explosive orgasm all over the inside of that car.

"mmmm the Shelby turns me on so much that just sitting in her and starting her up made me cum."

"OMG Sookie u r sooo lucky I am not there right now."

"hehehe u want more?"

"There's more????"

"Open up her glove box u will find a special present just for u."

I wait patiently for his next text, but this time instead of a text I get a phone call. "Hello," I answer, putting as much sweet innocence behind my voice as I can.

"Where are you my darling?" He asks just as sweetly.

"I am at the wedding boutique at the Shreveport mall. Russell is arguing with the sales lady over what dress I am going to be wearing tonight. What's wrong baby you sound stressed?" I giggle lightly.

"You are a bad girl my little Southern Belle."

"Me?" I gasp. "No never. I am sweet innocent Sookie, I never do anything naughty."

Eric growls a little and just that sound gets my motor running. "MMMM. You shouldn't make sounds like that my love since you are not here," I say in a quiet, breathy voice.

He growls again, but this time I have to actually hold in a small moan. It wouldn't do to have the whole store know I am talking dirty to my boyfriend on the phone.

"If I have your panties in my glove box princess, what are you wearing under your dress my pet?"

"Nothing lover."

"You aren't wearing any panties at all?" he asks.

"Nope."

"Are you wet for me princess? Do you wish I were there to put my tongue between those sweet thighs, moving forward inch by inch, until I reach that perfect fucking pussy, flicking it lightly until I make you cum screaming my name? Are you wet for me Sookie?"

"Fuck, I am now," I whisper as softly as I can.

"Such language princess. Go ask the clerk if there is a bathroom, and call me back when you get there. And Sookie? I suggest you move quickly or you will be in even more trouble than you are already in."

I snap my phone shut and quickly make my way over to the clerk, Russell, and Betty Joe. "Excuse me Miss, but there wouldn't happen to be a restroom here, would there? I know your sign says no bathrooms for public use but I have been shoppin' for hours and the closest ladies room is on the other side of the mall."

Russell shoots the sales clerk a dirty look clearly saying without saying a word. 'You better let the girl use your bathroom or there will be hell to pay.' I have to contain my laughter; laughing like a loon at the sales lady would not help me get to a private area any quicker. "Sure dear just head down that hall it is the first door on the left. Mr. Edgington and I will probably be at least another half hour or so before we are ready for you so take your time."

"Thanks you're such a life saver." I practically run down the hall while flipping open my phone and dialing Eric.

"Are you in the bathroom my Princess?"

"Yes, but damn Eric there is no lock on the door."

"That's fine my princess it will make it more fun."

"Eric what is it that you think I am going to do?"

"You are going to do exactly what I tell you to. Now is there a counter you can sit your pretty little ass on?"

"Eric…"

"Sookie just trust me and do what you are told. Now is there a counter for you to rest you beautiful ass on?"

"Yes."

"Good, now get your ass up on that counter right now."

I jump up on the counter as quickly as I can and lean back against the cool mirror behind me. "Okay, honey I am now sitting on the rather chilly counter leaning back against the mirror that is behind me."

"Good girl. Now tell me which outfit did you picked out to wear today?"

"The cute little red handkerchief dress, which I absolutely love by the way, I have almost the exact same dress at home."

"Mmmm, I knew you would love that dress. I picked that one out for you. I bet you are wearing the matching platform wedges, aren't you princess?"

"Mmhmm."

"Good girl, are you still wet for me Sookie?"

"Yes baby," I whisper softly closing my eyes, allowing myself to fully be in the moment.

"Do you wish I was there to run my fingers up and down your perfect little pussy?"

I groan softly. "Oh yes baby."

"Do you wish I was there to nibble that sweet little spot at the nape of your neck while I slowly slide my fingers in your tight wet pussy?'"

"Mmmm"

Eric laughs softly. "I take that as a yes my princess."

"Mmhmm."

"Sookie, put one foot up on the counter and let your dress fall backwards."

I twist my body slightly and lifted my foot up onto the counter. "Okay."

"Good girl. Oh I can just see it, you sitting there on that counter the mirror reflecting you're heaving breasts and just a little thigh, your pretty little dress tucked around your waist, and your perfect pussy just begging for a good long pounding from my rock hard cock."

I let out a small moan biting my lip trying to stay as quiet as possible; I really didn't want anyone intruding in on this perfect little bubble of ecstasy that Eric was creating for me. "Put your fingers in your pussy Sookie." I tense up. "No, no baby don't tense up just relax you will like it."

I slide my fingers down and slowly circle my clit with sure steady movements and I moan even louder. "Sshhh quietly princess, bite your lip again that will help. You have to stay quiet Sookie."

I immediately obey and bite my lip softly. "Oh god Eric**,**" I whisper softly.

"Oh fuck Sookie, take your other hand and put your fingers in your pussy while you rub your clit."

"Ahhh oh god Eric."

"Does that feel good princess?"

"Yes baby."

"Faster princess move your fingers faster, cum for me." I quicken my pace and start moaning softly nonstop.

"Oh god Eric."

"Are you going to cum for me baby, are you close?"

"Yes, I am so close."

"You are so fucking beautiful Sookie, sitting there playing with yourself. Open your eyes Princess."

I let my eyes fly open and there, standing in all his glory, is my Viking. Before I can even open my mouth to say a single word he flies at me, moves my hands out of his way, and vigorously flicks his tongue up and down on my clit. I throw my head backwards, moaning loudly. "OH MY GOD ERIC."

"Sshhh quietly Sookie. Oh my god you taste so good, look at me lover while I eat your pussy."

I look down at him and he dives right back in staring at me while he thoroughly enjoys his work. He changes rhythm and slides three fingers into me and that is it, I am pushed over the edge into orgasm. I channel all my normal screaming noises into racking my nails around his shoulders, which only drives him on harder and faster; never releasing me from an orgasm that I think will never end. Just when I think I can't take it anymore, and am going to beg him to release me from the endless loop of ecstasy, he turns and bites my thigh, pushing me that last little bit over the edge and into nothingness.

Before I even have a chance to fully recover he lifts me up off the counter and turns me over so that I am facing the mirror on my belly. In one smooth, quick motion he is inside me, hitting me in just the right spots to send me back into instant orgasm. With every stroke he hits both my g spot and my cervix, I know that some girls find it painful to have their cervix hit but I love it, the perfect mix of pleasure and pain just flat do it for me.

"Look at me in the mirror Sookie, watch me fuck you." Before I can even comply he grabs my hair and pulls my head back so that I am looking at him in the mirror. The pain from his pulling my hair just pushes me even farther into the purest pleasure I have ever known. I lift my legs and wrap them behind his hips forcing him to move deeper into me; no one will ever say that Sookie Stackhouse isn't flexible, and he growls in response, "God Sookie."

He raises his hand and spanks my ass hard with every single stroke. No one has ever done this to me before and it just spurs me on. I thrust my hips backwards with his every forward stroke. "That's my girl, do you like it baby?"

"Oh god yes Eric."

"Cum again for me princess." And just like that I feel my body clench and release my orgasm simply because he wanted me to. One more stroke and I feel his own release pouring into my body and filling me up to the brim. I convulse around him and he shudders in response. "Perfect." I can't help but laugh; he lifts me gently off of him and sets me back on the counter so that I am facing him. "Hey baby," he kisses my forehead lightly. "Did you like your punishment for being such an insufferable cock tease?" He asks kissing my lips gently.

I let my head fall back and rest on the mirror. "If that is going to be my punishment for what I did this morning, I am going to do it again because I will take your form of punishment any day."

He bursts out with a roar of laughter. "Like that did you?"

"Mmhmm."

"Good. I will have to think of new inventive ways of punishing your beautiful ass then."

"As the great Janet Jackson says, any time any place." I sit silently for a moment simply enjoying Eric's arms wrapped around me. After a moment I realize that I am going to have go back out and face Russell and the never-ending parade of dresses. "Damn I really don't want to go back out there and try on dress after dress again. I am so tired of trying on clothes. Can you just kidnap me and take me home honey?"

He kisses my forehead gently and says, "I wish I could princess but I think that Russell would have my head if I did that. It's bad enough that he saw me sneaking back here."

"Oh god I am never going to hear the end of this." My face feels like it was on fire with the deep blush that has crept up my whole body.

Eric grabs my chin gently and makes me look him right in his beautiful blue eyes. "Don't ever be ashamed of what we have princess." He strokes my hair lightly and lovingly. "Everything from our everyday relationship to our expression of love through sex is perfect. Don't ever let anyone make you feel bad about that. I love you."

I can't help but smile ear to ear at him. He is so perfect in every way; he always knows just what to say or just what to do to help me get through every challenge. "I love you too Eric." He does down on his knees in front of me and is snaking his head under my skirt again. "What do you think you're doing? You cannot possibly be ready for another round?"

He looks up at me and smirks. "Nope I am just going to give you a very thorough cleaning before I send you out there to face Russell. Plus it will have the added bonus of making you squirm just enough to leave you wanting more." As soon as that simple statement leaves his lips he does just that; he licks every crevice and fold, and does a very thorough job of running his tongue in and out of me, and just as I feel myself approaching the edge he stops, kisses me softly on my thigh, and stands up.

I slap his chest and he just laughs. "Here princess I brought you these." He pulls out a new pair of red panties and slips them over my feet; he grabs me around my waist, lifts, and shimmies them up the rest of the way. "You think you can walk?" He has that cocky look on his face, like the cat that ate the canary. Just this once I will let him get away with that look because he most certainly deserves a gold star for a job well done.

There is a gentle knock on the bathroom door followed by**,** "Sookie my dear?" Russell's voice comes drifting through the wood. "I think we are ready for you now." Eric helps me down off the counter and slides his arms possessively around my waist walking right behind me with his chin rested on the top of my head. If it is uncomfortable for him he makes no indication of it. I pull open the door and Russell is beaming at me. "Are you ready to see your dress my dear? I finally found the perfect one." He looks up at Eric. "I take it you can give her up for just a few moments. You will have plenty of time later for more hanky panky."

Eric pulls me tighter to his chest and abdomen and kisses the top of my head. "I suppose if I must give her up at least it's to you. I am assured that her virtue will still be very much intact with you."

Russell snorts. "Northman I think it is a little late to worry about our Sookie's virtue**.** You have quite thoroughly stolen that, repeatedly**,** from the looks of her." Eric just laughs that manly laugh that says clearly **'**And your point is?**'**

We all walk out into the main boutique area. Everyone turns and looks at us as we come in**,** and I watch both Angela (a.k.a. Russell's day-gal) and the saleswoman's jaws hit the floor as they take in my hunky**,** soon to be hubby. He slithers around me and kisses me deep and hard**,** leaving me breathless. "I'll see you soon my princess." He releases me and puts the perfect sway into his hips that shows off his perfect derrière, and let every woman know that he knows exactly what he is doing with those hips. He just exudes sex, and not just any sex, but mind blowing, make your heart stop, once in a lifetime sex. All of us sigh deeply watching him walk away and Eric erupts into a roaring laughter as he rounds the corner.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Notes:** Okay just a few things this week. First I am updating a day early because I know that the beloved Charlene Harris is releasing the new book in the SVM series this week and I am sure most of you will be sucked into this new novel. I was unsure if I should even update this week at all because of this. I discussed it with a good friend who reads my fic's and she told me I should either update early or wait for a week. So ya'll can send good vibes out to my girl Shannon for encouraging me to update early.

I have to give a big shout out to those of you that have taken the time to put me up as a recommendation in your blogs. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You have helped to increase the number of readers that I get every week and have helped to encourage me to keep going by increasing my popularity. KISSES.

Lastly a big shout out to my girl, ericizmine (www. Fanfiction . net/u/1982937/) she has been helping me with getting my own blog set up and been extremely patient with me. Ya'll should go and check her out, just remove the spaces in the web address, she writes a few of my favorite stories out there. Saint's and Sinners is one of my favorites as well as her Dead Tired series. So good. When I get my page all perfect I will give all of you the address for it, I am going to be putting some original work up there, but these things take time. Hehe

Lastly a big ol' thank you to all of you who took the time to review my work, I appreciate it more than I have words to describe. I encourage all of you to continue to do so or do it for the first time. It helps me grow as a writer and encourages me to continue with my stories. Tons of love to you all and enjoy the newest chapter.

Much love from the west coast,

Lilli

Chapter 8

Angela, a.k.a. Russell's day gal, and the sales woman shook themselves visibly trying to pull themselves together. I wasn't embarrassed in the slightest because that beautiful ass was all mine. "Wow deary, is that your soon-to-be husband?"

Before I could even answer Betty Joe snapped at her. "No, that was just some random bloke that she pulled off into the bathroom for a good shag before her big day." I had never heard Betty Joe fall back into her original accent before but it was actually quite cute. I had to bite my lip to keep myself from laughing.

The poor sales woman blushed deeply and quickly changed the subject. "So Mr. Edgington has finally selected your dress, and he thinks with just a quick little whip stitch that it will fit you perfectly. Follow me please to the dressing room." I followed her a few steps and she stopped dead in her tracks. "Oh Mr. Edgington, do you have the young lady's shoes and undergarments so that we can make sure that everything is fitted just right when we put it on? Since this is having to be done right this moment we should make sure everything is perfect for her."

"Certainly. Angela fetch the proper bags please," Russell said absently waving his hand in the direction of the piles of bags that were taking up one corner of the shop.

"Yes sir, right away sir." Angela rushed about the various bags, clearly a woman on a mission. After just a few moments she found a shoe box along with a small pink bag. She rushed the bags back to the sales woman and handed them to her quickly.

"Oh Sookie, make sure you put all the accoutrements on including the panty hose and garter belt because after we leave here we will be going straight to get your wedding wreath placed into your hair, and then we have to stop at the blacksmith, and then straight to the wedding. You won't have time to change so you will have to wear your gown to the other locations," Russell said with a huge grin on his face.

"Oh you little sneak! You knew that if you dragged out our time shopping that you would get to drag me around in this gown."

"Well, Eric certainly did help the cause I must say." I blushed deeply and he just laughed. "Besides it's not every day I am going to get to take a princess in her bridal gown around the town," Russell said.

"Princess? You're a princess?" Russell immediately caught the woman's eyes and I could tell that he was putting the wammy on her.

"Of course she's a princess. Every woman is a princess on her wedding day," Russell said in his best snake charmer voice.

"Of course," The woman said sleepily.

Now I typically try to stay out of people's heads, this is why I didn't even know the woman's name; I hate finding out all there is to know about people before they even open their mouth, but I had never actually got a firsthand view into someone's brain while they were being glamoured. I dropped my shields and was sucked into the woman's mind; I could hear a soft classical melody of some kind playing over and over again in her head along with Russell's words vibrating in perfect synchrony with every note. "Fascinating," I whispered softly. "Is it always like that?"

"Is it always like what dear?" Betty Joe said.

"Hmm it's hard to explain, is it always music inlaid with the message ya'll are trying to imprint on the mind? Essentially blocking out whatever memory to be replaced by the repetitive sound and message?"

Betty Joe cocked her head slightly. "I always forget you can't be glamoured, and to answer your question no it isn't always like that. Much like our individual abilities it varies from vampire to vampire, some of us use a painting we loved in our life our just an image or a memory of our own inlaid with our message. I find it fascinating though that you can actually hear what is being done without suffering any ill effects. Have you ever attempted to listen during the process before?"

"No only after, and this time I didn't really catch the full force of it either. I didn't actually 'pop in' until after he had already started. It is kind of on a loop too. I seem to remember that occurring before as well. Does that always occur, the message playing on repeat over and over?"

"Only until the message has played long enough for it to firmly take hold," she jumped up and down a little and clapped her hands excitedly. "Oh Sookie can we try you actually listening in while a glamour is occurring? I would be most intrigued to see how that effects you and your perception of the actual initial glamour."

I was just getting to open my mouth to express my own excitement at the idea when Russell cut me off. "Sookie is not one of your science experiments Betty Joe, and now is neither the time nor the place to discuss such matters. I am going to release the woman, the imprinting should be done."

The sales woman shook herself a little and said, "Of course every woman is a princess on her wedding day. Come on Miss. Stackhouse let's get you in your gown." She led me towards the back of the store past the bathrooms that Eric and I had so thoroughly christened, and through a large room with a platform and a three facet mirror, and into a rather large changing room. From the looks of the room it was common for the bride to have at least two people helping her into her gown. I said a quick prayer hoping the Russell hadn't chosen one of those frilly numbers with all the tulle and pearl work.

"Okay Miss. Stackhouse I will leave you here for a few minutes so that you can put on your under things. Just push that button there," she pointed at a small red button on the wall with a speaker just above it, "when you are ready for me to come and help you into your dress."

"Thank you."

"No problem." She turned on her heel, pulled a rather heavy looking red privacy curtain, and left. I pulled out my under things and set to work at getting all of the bits in all the right places. I had expected to find your typical white satin bra and panty set but instead I found this absolutely beautiful dark champagne color lace bra and matching panties.

The bra was really cool too; it not only lifted and separated the girls perfectly, hey when you have big boobs you have to have a little help getting them to just the right perkiness, but the latching system which was in the front of the bra instead of the back was like nothing I had ever seen before. The cups of the bra where in just the right places so that you could wear it with a v neck top, but the clasp was this thin piece of flesh colored jelly that sat across the breast bone and was undetectable to the eye, giving the effect of the cups of the bra just floating in place. Hopefully it would be undetectable to vampire eyes as well as mine because I know they have better eye sight then I do.

The panties were totally different than what I had expected as well. I had thought for sure Russell would have picked a cute little thong number, but instead he had picked out the cutest pair of low riding boy shorts that I had ever seen. When I slipped them on they did wonderful things to my shapely rump. If I dared to give myself a compliment they made my ass look great, I absolutely loved them. I would definitely have to invest in some more of them.

The garter belt was absolutely beautiful; it matched the bra and panties perfectly. It was that same perfect dark champagne color as the others but it had the prettiest crimson accents along the edges and the actual ribbons that attached the thigh highs to the belt itself were also a blood crimson color. I really hoped they wouldn't show under whatever concoction of a dress Russell had picked. The pantyhose were for the most part just a plain nude color, but I noticed that they had a thin line that ran up the back of the leg. I never really understood the point in that but men seem to like it so I really wasn't going to complain. For a man, even a gay man, Russell sure had good taste in women's lingerie. I didn't even remember him grabbing them while we were in Victoria's Secret.

The shoes where a fairly simple four inch pump that covered just my toes and had a little strap that wrapped around from the back of my heel to the front of my ankle. Of course they matched my underwear perfectly, so I was taking a wild stab in the dark at saying that my dress wasn't going to be ivory. I twirled a little in the room making sure that everything fit comfortably and nothing came popping out of anywhere that it wasn't supposed to pop out. Good lingerie should be like a second skin; if it is too tight so that you can't move it's no good, as well as if it too loose so that your bits and bobs come flying out at inopportune moments you should take it back and get a refund. Russell had of course done an excellent job in his choices.

I pushed the little red button and said, "Okay I am ready for you now." Almost immediately there was a small little nock on the doorframe and in poured Russell, Betty Joe, and the unnamed sales woman, into the room with a large white garment bag. Betty Joe quickly stepped behind me and covered my eyes. "You can't see until it is all on and in place, sorry sweetie."

"Russell is that really necessary?" I whined at him.

"Yes my dear, now humor an old man for a few moments. You will see the glorious outcome soon enough. Close your eyes tight and no peaking so that we can slip the dress on over your head." I closed my eyes tight. I was so tempted to peak but I wanted Russell to have his fun. He was after all being such a dear in helping me with this whole thing anyways. I felt the slide of a soft slip and then the gentle pull of cool satin slithering over my body and being pulled into place. As soon as it was all over my head Betty Joe clamped her hands down over my eyes again. I just sighed deeply.

I could feel Russell and sales lady, as I was now calling her, messing about at my waist and lower ribcage and then without warning I felt the distinctive tug of a cinch being pulled tightly into place. I let a little "Oommphh." noise and then said half winded, "You could have warned me to breathe in before you did that Russell."

"But then where would all the fun be my dear?" he laughed wickedly.

"Seriously though a cinch? Why on God's green earth do I need a cinch?"

"Trust me love," Russell replied. They tugged and pulled and positioned everything into its' perfect places after a few moments everyone just stopped. Russell slid his hands into mine and pulled me gently out of the room. "Okay love I am going to lift you up onto the platform." I could feel Russell's cool hands slipping on either side of my waist and he picked me up and set me down again very quickly. There was some more hustling around me as fabric was adjusted here and then finally I heard everyone in the room gasp all at once. "I told you," Russell said in a rather proud yet droll voice.

"She won't even need any stitches to adjust for size," the sales woman said.

"I don't know why you even bothered arguing with Russell in the first place, he has a keen eye and always knows what will be perfect," Betty Joe said snarkily.

"Umm guys, would it be possible if I can see too?" I said.

"Oh of course." Betty Joe said.

"Wait, Sookie honey close your eyes, and when Betty Joe drops her hands let your eyes readjust to the light. I will tell you when to open them alright?" Russell said softly by my ear, and I just nodded once in acceptance. I closed my eyes tightly and felt Betty Joe's hands fall away from my eyes. There was a bit more rustling of the fabric and I could feel my eyes slowly readjusting back to the light of the room. From further away I could hear Russell say, "Okay Sookie open your eyes."

I slowly opened my eyes and took in the beautiful goddess staring back at me from the mirrors I had seen earlier. There was no way that was me. I looked over my left shoulder and then my right to see if there was some kind of trick but no, that was definitely me. I heard Russell chuckle softly; I am sure he had figured out what I was doing. I stared for a long time taking in the absolutely beautiful gown that Russell had picked up for me.

I was right in assuming that the dress was not white, it was the same dark champagne color as my panties and bra. It had a v neck that hit about the middle of my rib cage, and had no sleeves, almost like a tank top, but for some reason reminded me more of an older Grecian gown you see in all the movies where the straps of the bodice almost cover the shoulders completely. The dress flowed perfectly down my body into a bell shape that poured out behind me in a train that was the absolutely perfect length. Not so long that I would need someone constantly behind me making sure it lay in just the right position, but just long enough that it gave me a regal air.

At my waist the cinch that I had complained about framed me perfectly. It accentuated my waist and hips giving me more of an hourglass figure than I already had. The cinch itself was dark champagne and diamond shaped in the front, the top tip hitting the just below my ribcage and the bottom hitting me in the middle of my abdomen. It was a few shades lighter than the dress itself, I assumed to help draw attention to it, but if that didn't draw the eye one of the other of the two other features of this magnificent accent would.

The sides of the cinch where laced with a crimson satin ribbon that once tied off at the bottom hung all the way down to floor. Looking at the ribbon for a moment I noticed that it looked as if it flowed throughout the entire piece as both the top and bottom of it where piped with the same red satin as a kind of outline.

In the middle on the front of the cinch was a beautiful tree, embroidered in gold. I ran my finger's gently along it feeling the hills and valleys that the embroidery created. Russell whispered quietly in my ear, "That my dear is the tree of life, in Eric's culture the tree was the symbol for all things. From the roots where the dwarves, elves and fairy's lived, to the leaves that stretched into the heavens home of the God's, to the trunk." He touched the trunk of the tree lightly. "Where man and woman and all the rest lived in perfect perpetual harmony. The tree represent's life and death, love and hate, and most importantly the connection in all things, it shows that no matter your status on the tree be it a fairy princess or a vampire king, we are all connected and therefore able to love one another." I felt the hot tears slowly rolling down my face. "Oh Sookie sshhh don't cry darlin'." He gently wiped my tears away. I had expected him to lick them but instead he just pulled out his handkerchief and dried his hands.

"It's perfect Russell, I couldn't have chosen a more beautiful dress and of course the cinch is absolutely the perfect symbolism for the two of us. Plus it will mean so much to Eric that his culture is included into our ceremony."

"Oh honey you haven't seen anything yet." He smiled at me and boy was he not kidding. From the bridal shop, he carried me to the hair dressers, where they quickly put on my makeup, very lightly thank you Gods, and pinned my hair up into a complicated array of twists and knots so that my wedding crown could sit on my head without a lot of effort other than a few bobby pins to help hold it in place. The wedding crown as it turned out was an elaborate weaving of white tulips mixed with myrtle leaves. It was absolutely stunning

From the hairdresser's I was once again carried down the street and into what could only be the blacksmiths shop. When we arrived Russell set me down and turned to Angela and Betty Joe. "Take the bags to the car and bring it around we won't be too long."

"Yes sir," Angela said. Betty Joe gave Russell a quizzical look but just nodded her head and left the shop. I heard the soft clink clink clink of a hammer being hit against metal emanating from the back. "Sookie darling wait here please I will be right back." Russell quickly slipped into the back and left me to peruse at my leisure. I gathered up the train of my skirt so that it wouldn't drag on the ground here and slowly made my way about the shop. There were blades of every shape and size here and they were all quite impressive. Working for the last year with a sword master had given me a new application for swords and blades that I had never before possessed. I knew that some of these fine works of craftsmanship took months to make if not years.

My eye was automatically drawn to a double edged broad sword that was just my size. I really wanted to get permission before wielding the blade but my fingers itched to touch that sword. My Sword master had always said, "Sookie sometimes you do not have a choice, you will see a blade and it will choose you." I never understood him until that moment. I gently lifted the blade from it holder and unsheathed it gently.

She was beautiful. I dropped my train to the ground and twisted and turned the blade in the familiar warm-ups that I had been practicing nonstop for the last year. She moved beautifully with me; it was like she was an extension of my arm, moving perfectly at just the right moments. Whenever I had wielded a blade previously it had always responded to my commands but never had I felt like the movement was so natural.

"Milady," I heard a soft male voice say behind me. I was suddenly embarrassed, I felt like a kid who had gotten caught with her hand in the cookie jar. I stopped my exercise, turned to the voice, and bowed deeply. "Don't be embarrassed child, it seems the Guinevere has finally chosen. I never thought she would find a hand worthy to wield her. I have tried for years to get Guinevere into the hands of a worthy warrior. Apparently she was waiting for a maiden warrior's soft touch instead of the rough clasp of a man."

"I never understood what my weapon's master meant but I saw her and I just couldn't let her sit there. I'm sorry I know you are supposed to ask permission before wielding the blades of a blacksmith but I just had to. I'm sorry."

"No, child don't apologize, Guinevere is one of the first blades I ever forged. That was, oh hmmm, three hundred years ago. In this shop the blade truly does choose the wielder and apparently she has chosen. I am proud to see her finally in the right hands. I dreamt of her you see. I had never even been in a forge before but one night I dreamt of Guinevere calling me to bring her into existence, she told me that she was needed and that I must be the one to forge her. I had all but given up hope that she would ever find her wielder."

I examined the man carefully as I took in his words; he was a fairy. No wonder the blades choose their owners here. I laugh softly. "I came for my wedding blade and end up walking away with another that I had never known would be meant for me to wield." I looked lovingly down at the blade in my hand. "Guinevere, such a lovely name for such a lovely blade."

"May she bring you much happiness and protect you perfectly, may her edge never be dull and her slice always be on the mark," the blacksmith said.

"Thank you," I said again and bowed slightly. I gently slipped Guinevere back into her sheath and set her lovingly onto the counter. The minute I put her down my fingers itched to touch her again.

The blacksmith looked from me to the blade clearly amused, I must have given some kind of indication to what I wanted to do because he laughed aloud, looked at the blade, and said, "Guinevere knock it off you are going home with her. She must look at her wedding blade that is to be presented to her husband this day." Just like that the itching stopped and I breathed a sigh of relief.

The blacksmith came and stood directly in front of me, bowed his head, and knelt before me holding a magnificent sword above him. "Milady I formally present to you Arthur, he is your wedding blade for you and your mate."

Once again I had the itching feeling in my fingers and I reached out and grasped Arthur in my hand. He was a little heaver but I could manage him just as easily as Guinevere. I laughed out loud as I made the connection in the names. The blacksmith rose and looked at me, clearly puzzled. "Think about the names sir. They are Arthur and Guinevere, a truly matched pair."

The blacksmith roared with laughter. "I had not even thought of that. The blades speak to me and whisper me their secret names. I had not even thought about the fact that he had chosen such a name or that you would end up wielding his mate."

"Indeed, a most peculiar coincidence," Russell said from the doorway that lead into the back of the shop.

I unsheathed Arthur with just as much love as I had with Guinevere. I noticed that on the pommel of the blade was the familiar tree of life; the leaves were the very edge of the pommel flowing down into the trunk for the handle and finally the roots splitting off at the edge of the blade to make up the hilt. I smile slightly; I suddenly had a whole new appreciation for this image. Engraved on handle on one side was a large B in a fancy old English looking script and on the other side was a large N in the same script. I looked up at the blacksmith. "The B and the N, how did you know?"

"I didn't. I made that blade five years ago when King Russell called and told me that he needed to acquire a blade for a very special girl, I knew that Arthur was yours. I still don't understand the meaning and Russell did not tell me who you were, but Arthur practically screamed at me that he belonged to you." He paused for a moment clearly debating on whether or not to ask his next question. "I'm sorry milady, and I know this is very rude, but the letters have been a mystery for me and I was just wondering… what do they stand for?"

I brushed my fingers lightly over the N tracing it back and forth. "Well the N is for my soon to be husband Eric Northman."

"Ahhh that explains the Norse imagery, and the B?"

"Well I would assume that it stands for me, although I do not go by that last name, but it stands for Brigant."

The blacksmith's eyes widened and he fell to his knees in front of me. "Princess Sookie, I … I … I did not know it was you that was coming here."

"Oh stop that right now, and stand up please. I am no one's princess, I am just Sookie."

The blacksmith laughed lightly and stood. "I heard that about you, humble and kind. Well this does explain the blessing."

"Blessing?"

"Yes the blessing. You see those there on the blade?" I looked at the blade more closely and noticed for the first time some very faint writing. I simply nodded my head. "Well, the blessing is in Old Norse but it is a ancient fae blessing. Roughly translated it is: May the love that these two share forever be combined in this blade for nary a rarer pair has ever been made, only these two may wield this blade."

I scrunched up my eyebrows. "Does that mean only Eric and I can use the sword?"

"I would assume so, but it is also a blessing on yours and Eric's love for each other. Swords as long as they are well loved will last forever. Do you understand?"

I smiled lightly. "Yes, and I will do my best."

"I know you will milady." I sheathed Arthur and grabbed Guinevere. My hand practically hummed with happiness when she was resting in my palm.

"Before I go, in a few days I would like to bring my husband here. I have a feeling that there is a blade of some sort here just for him. I think I even know which one but I want him to come and look just to be sure."

"Of course you can bring him, but might I ask which blade you are referring to?"

I pointed at a double-headed battle-axe that was positioned on the wall just above where Guinevere had sat. The blacksmith and I said together at the same time "Merlin." He looked at me with shock on his face.

"I knew it," I said smiling. "I cannot wait to bring him here."

The blacksmith just laughed. "Until then milady."

Russell scooped me up once again and we were out the shop and into the car in just a few seconds. He placed me in the back seat and off we went, away from the mall and the hustle and bustle of the last few hours and firmly towards my new life. My soon to be husband waiting for me, he truly was my destiny and I knew that now more than ever, as I looked lovingly down at my swords Arthur and Guinevere


	9. Chapter 9

**Authors Notes:** Okay a few things before I let ya'll get to reading the wedding of our beloved duo. Hehe. First ya'll will see the name Kaare in the chapter, now I know most of you will think it is pronounced (car,e) but it isn't. It is pronounced Cory. The name Kaare is the Norwegian spelling of the American Cory. It is a nod to my heritage, and my great uncle who is the best. Same with Ivar, well, Ivar is pronounced exactly like it is spelled, but it is again a nod to my family roots. Ivar was my grandfather and he brought his son, my father, here to America from Oslo.

Now for those of you who take the time to actually read my authors notes, I have a home work assignment for all of you. As you all are aware, because I told you last week, I am putting together a website that will have all of my stories on it, including original works. Anyways, I am trying to put together a playlist for each chapter for both of my stories, this one and The Shadows of Doubt. The great thing about the site that I am using is that you can imbed music, and pictures into the posts and pages, its fuck awesome.

What is my point you may ask? Well, I am stuck!! I am having a hell of time picking out songs and when I get stuck I tend to not be productive. So I turn to you, my lovely readers to send me your ideas for various songs, for various scenes throughout the entire story. Just send me your ideas; maybe add a little tag that says something like. "I think this song would go well with scene whatever whatever." I would really appreciate it if ya'll help me out here. Seriously I want my site to be really good, and I feel like utilizing the music aspect of the site is important.

Also, if anyone wants to help out by making pictures for the beginning of each chapter that would be awesome as well. I tried, I actually did two, for the first two chapters of SoD, but, well, I am not very good with things like that, I think my four year old could have probably done better. Lol. So if you would like to undertake that as well, let me know and I will send you my email address so that you can send them to me.

I know all of this is a lot to ask of you, but I would be immensely grateful if ya'll could take the time to help, even if it is just in little ways. I work really hard on my writing every week and I am trying very hard to make a place for ya'll to utilize it to its fullest potential.

Another quick little tidbit, I have twitter, sigh, I found that it is a necessary thing to help promote my writing and I must admit that it has worked brilliantly. So, if you want to follow me on twitter let me know and I will give you my name there so you can hit me up whenever your little heart's desires. I am always around; I am a stay at home mom/writer so my computer is never far away.

Okay last thing. Tons of love to all of you that have supported me, and a huge thanks to all of you who have sent me your kind words to encourage me by letting me know you love my story. Please continue to do so. It means the world to me. Thanks to all of you the readers and everyone send pleasant thoughts to my beautiful editor Catie, without her my stories wouldn't be nearly as good.

Tons of love from the west coast,

Lilli

Chapter 9

-Eric

I pulled Sookie to me tightly and kiss her very deeply, just enough to be a tease**,** and leave her breathless and panting for more. I pulled away gently and looked down at her face and I knew I had done a good job; I am going to tease her endlessly after the little stunt she pulled this morning. But if her reaction to our little phone sex conversation was any indication I know that our love life is going to be spectacular. Even if it weren't already the best sex I had ever had in my long life, her willingness to listen and obey when I gave instructions was wondrous. Her sense of adventure and willingness to try new things was going to be a lot of fun exploring.

The way she reacted to me too just drove me wild. I really wanted to throw her over my shoulder, take her out to the parking lot, and fuck her senseless on the hood of the Shelby that I had driven like a mad man to get here in time to see her fingering herself in the bathroom. I reluctantly released her and turn to leave putting just the right amount of sway into my hips, making a show to my darling Sookie that I knew just what to do with these hips of mine. I had intended to put a show on just for her, but instead I heard every person in the room sigh with dreamy sex filled fantasies as I rounded the corner, and I couldn't help but to laugh in response. Whenever I am around Sookie I have the tendency to forget that there are other people in the room. If that wasn't a big old flashing sign that I love this girl I don't know what is.

Bobby had texted me earlier with clear instructions from Russell that I needed to go to a jewelry shop and pick up some kind of ring for my darling, and since I was already at the mall I decided I might as well do just that. I made my way through the people hustling here and there on their last minute errands before the shops closed up for the night. It was great that the locals had adjusted all of their hours so that we vampires could have a chance to contribute to the local economy. Before the great revelation we always had to send out our little human minions, like Bobby, to go and pick up whatever we needed during the day. I had always hated that, trying to explain exactly what you wanted to someone and hoping that they actually got what you wanted was always a pain in the ass.

I pushed open the door to the jewelers and the little tinkling of bells made the sales woman look up from her work as I entered. "Can I help you sir?" the cute little red headed sales woman asked.

"I certainly hope, so I am looking for a wedding set and an engagement ring for my intended and I."

"Well that will certainly not be a problem sir, when do you need to have it ready by?"

"Today, right now actually."

"Well I don't know sir," she said pouting her lips just the tinniest bit. If I weren't with Sookie I would have taken her in the back and shown her exactly what she could do with those luscious lips. My cock twitched just the slightest bit at having perfect lips wrapped around them and I got a flash of Sookie from this morning, swallowing me down as deep as she could, the head of my dick flowing effortlessly down the back of her throat. I shook myself slightly from that train of thought; it wouldn't do for this woman to think I was getting a ragger because of her. "Do you know what ring size your girlfriend wears? If it is the right size we won't have to size it to fit her. Or if it is too large you can bring it back later to be fixed."

I thought about that a moment. I didn't know what Sookie's ring size was. In all my years I had never actually bought a ring for any woman; sure I would pick up little baubles here and there, a bracelet or necklace or the occasional pair of earrings but never a ring, not even for my child Pam. "One moment. Let me make a call and see if I can find out. I will peruse your wares and see if anything catches my eye."

I flipped open my cell and called Russell's phone. "You've got me." His sweet sing song voice came over the speaker.

"Russell, Northman. Is Sookie close to you? Are you free to speak?"

"She's in the back putting on her negligee's that will go under her wedding gown. I must say Eric you will owe me big time for this. You're going to see these things and love every stitch of it."

"I will just have to trust you on that, although I wonder what a gay man can know about proper lingerie for a woman."

"Eric, please. I have had many female companions over the years, and although I don't enjoy their tender attentions, I do enjoy the form and seeing them prance around in a cute wrapping."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "Listen Russell you wouldn't happen to know what size ring Sookie wears? I am at the jewelers and well, I have never had to think about something like ring size before."

"I believe she is a five but let me ask Betty Joe, I am almost positive that she bought Sookie a little bauble last Christmas." I could hear him pull the phone away from his mouth and say in a more muffled tone. "Betty what is Sookie's ring size? Northman is at the jewelers and doesn't know it." I hear her mumble something but can't quite make it out. Although my hearing is excellent, listening in on conversations is not easy with these darn cell phones. "Northman."

"Yes."

"Betty Joe says that she is a five, so that should make your job a whole lot easier, from what Betty Joe was saying almost all jewelers carry that size standard."

"Thanks Russell you have been a life saver."

"No problem, oh and Northman."

"Yes?"

"You have exactly twenty minutes to get that ring picked out and get your ass out of this mall. I will not have you seeing Sookie before the big reveal at the ceremony. I am going to be carrying her around to a few other stops in her gown before we get back to the house, so I better not see hide nor hair of you or your ass is mine."

"All right, all right," I laughed and hung up the phone. I turned back to the sales woman and said, "Her ring size is a five, will that work out?"

"Oh yes perfectly, and what about you sir?"

"Oh twelve I think."

"Perfect, did you see anything that catches your fancy?"

"Actually I haven't. None of these are quite right."

The perky little sales woman looked up at the ceiling, pouted her precious little lips again, and tapped her foot clearly in thought. "Oh you know what, we had a shipment come in this morning that I just haven't had the time to put out yet. I was thinking I was going to have to send a few of them back because they were so unusual, but I bet good money that they will be right up your ally. Just give me one moment."

She slipped into the back and was gone just a few moments and with a lock box clasped firmly between her delicate little hands. She set the box down almost lovingly onto the counter, unlocked the lid, and flipped it open, and there nestled in the velvet inserts were mine and Sookie's wedding bands. "Those," I said, pointing them out instantly.

"That's what I thought," she said beaming at me. She gently pulled out the rings and laid them in the palm of my hand. I looked closely at the bands; they where laurel leaves wrapped in a wreath style. The leaves were platinum with gold accents highlighting the veins and outlines of each wreath. They were perfect. "Coincidently they are just the sizes you need as well."

I looked up at her smiling. I knew my grin was a stupid boyish giddiness but I just didn't care. Everything with Sookie seemed to just click perfectly into place. I set our bands reverently back on the counter and perused the reaming ring's looking for just the right engagement ring for my beloved princess. After a few moments of inspection, I shook my head; none of these were quite right either. The sales woman just smiled at me and lifted the tray out of the box to reveal a second layer of jewelry, and again my eye was instantly drawn to the perfect ring nestled smack dab in the middle of all the rest. "That one," I said pointing out a five carat cannery diamond ring with three small rubies on each side of the main stone.

"Perfect choice if I may be so bold sir, she is one lucky woman to have a husband with such fine taste."

I could tell from her tone that she wasn't just talking about the jewelry I was picking out. I just ignored the double meaning and said, "No, believe me I am the lucky one." The sales woman just smiled lightly and went about ringing me up and charging the jewelry onto my credit card. I got a phone call as the sales woman was slipping the ring boxes into a bag and I was headed out the door. I clicked it open and said, "You got Northman."

"You have two minutes Northman to get your ass out of this mall. I wasn't playing I will have your head if I see you sneaking a peak at Sookie. Trust me it will be worth the wait."

I laugh lightly. "All right I was just leaving the jeweler's when you called**.** I am getting in the Shelby now and heading back to my house."

"Good, oh hopefully Pam and Bubba will have the pavilion for the ceremony all set up so you will only have to worry about getting your beautiful Viking butt all dressed and ready. We should be there in about forty five minutes. Make sure you are ready to go because as soon as we get there I will want to start the ceremony."

I was sliding into my car and racing down the road towards my house**.** I only lived about five minutes from this mall which was why it was so easy for me to get to Sookie in time to see the whole beautiful show of her in the bathroom. "Bubba is at my house helping Pam set up? Why is Bubba helping at all, why is he even there?"

"Oh, I keep forgetting that you and Sookie don't know each other that well. Bubba is one of her favorite people. She absolutely loves him, and he really cares for her. He has been assigned to watch out for her several times over the past few years and they have developed a very close friendship. He has agreed to sing for her as she's walking down the aisle as well as at the reception afterwards. Sookie is going to go bananas when she hears him. She has always wanted to hear him sing but is always very respectful and never asks him."

"Do you have any more surprises up your sleeves Russell?"

"Of course loads of them but you are just going to have to wait and receive them in the order in which they are given. I have to go now Sookie's hair is just getting started and I want to make sure that the beautician does it just right."

Without a further word or even so much as a goodbye Russell hung up just as I was pulling into my cavernous garage. I could hear music being played in my back yard and I meander my way through the house towards the music. I open the French doors and find a huge pavilion set up with flowing silken walls nestled perfectly into the landscape. It was absolutely gorgeous and I knew Sookie would love it. There were several rows of chairs all set up and ready for the ceremony. Off to the side of the pavilion I notice several small stacks of tables ready and waiting to be set up for the reception. I can't believe Russell planed and pulled off such an extravagant event in one day.

Pam came rushing up to me in a flowing gown of crimson silk, her hair all tucked up on top of her head with small little spiral curls flowing here and there out of her make shift bun. "Take your ass down stairs and get ready. We don't have a lot of time**.** Russell just texted me saying that he will be here in about a half hour at the most. They are on their way to the last stop right now. Go on now scoot." She turned me around and slapped my ass hard.

"Okay, okay," I laughed at her and ran with vampire speed down the stairs and into my closet. I stood for a long time in front of my formal wear section trying to decide which suit would fit me best. I was just pulling on the Armani when I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"Eric, do not even think you will be wearing that monkey suit." I turned around to see none other than my brother Sven.

"Sven by the God's what are you doing here?" I smiled at him and launched myself forward, pulling him up into a bear hug that would break a human in half.

"You don't think I would miss my brother's wedding now would you? Some pushy little poof called me and said that you were getting married to the infamous Sookie Stackhouse and that he would be sending his private jet to collect me so that I would make it here in time."

"Russell is definitely one of a kind, he knows how to get things done. I am so happy to see you brother."

"Oh I am not the only surprise your friend Russell had in store for you," Sven said stepping backwards revealing my other three brothers standing a little ways back from my closet.

"Ivar, Kaare, Stephan, oh good Gods now the day is fully complete. All of my brothers together to stand beside me on this day." I gave each a hug that could crack bones and they all laughed.

"Unbelievable," Kaare said. "I never thought I would see the day where you little brother would settle down with just one woman."

"Too true**,**" Ivar said. "You have always been something of a womanizer."

"She must be really special," Stephan said softly.

"Oh she is. I can't wait for you to meet her. I know that you all will love her as much as I do."

"It might be nice to have a little sister instead of just that bratty little niece you gave us," Sven said with a full belly laugh that made me laugh right along with him.

"Sookie is definitely nothing like Pam. She is a true Southern Belle."

"Well her reputation truly does lead me to believe that she is worthy of you. Has she really done all that I hear?" Ivar asked.

"Oh yes, all of that and more things that were kept very quiet and brothers**,** not only is she diplomatic and brave, but good Gods I saw her battle last night and she wields a blade with the heart of a true warrior. It was glorious. She sliced the tiger into three pieces with two expert twirls of a blade**;** it was amazing. Then after she was done she knelt and wept for the life she had just taken. She knew that it had to be done and did it without hesitation, but offered her tears up to the Gods for the respect of the man who had just fallen at her hands. It was amazing."

"Wow," they all said in unison. "Do you mean Quinn the tiger?" Sven asked.

"The very same brother."

"Sookie stood toe to toe with the mighty Quinn and walked away unscathed?" Sven asked.

I nodded my head proud of my little warrior princess. Sven's only response was a low whistle between his teeth. "Enough chit chat about Sookie's many attributes boys." We all turned to see Pam standing in the doorway with a black garment bag draped over one arm and my family sword in her other hand. "We have to get him ready. We have maybe fifteen minutes. Uncles." She nodded to my brothers with respect and turned back towards me.

"Pamela why do you have my family sword?"

"You will see father. Uncles can you help him into his wedding garb quickly so that I can do his hair please?" Without another word all four of my brothers fell on me simultaneously and stripped me down and threw the new clothes on me fastening and tying me into my new garb. They lifted me up and stood me in front of my full length mirror in my bedroom and I took in my appearance. Pam came behind me and settled my sword on my hip.

I was wearing traditional Norse wedding garb. I had a loose fitting champagne colored tunic that had a deep v neck with loose ties made of a crimson colored ribbon. My pants were a soft crème colored deer hide that was softer then the softest suede. My boots matched my tunic in the same dark champagne color and they sat high up just below my knees. Pam leaned down and slipped both of my knives that Sookie had wielded the night before into the outside of each of my boots.

"Uncle Sven grab a chair I cannot do his hair with him standing." Sven rushed out of the room and was back in an instant with one of the chairs from my library. Pam made quick work of my hair parting it and putting it into the traditional braids that sat just behind my ears. I watched as she braided in a red and champagne ribbon along with the braid and tying it off at the end with a small leather cord. She kissed my head lightly when she was done. I rose and took in my whole appearance slowly in the mirror in front of me.

"Perfect," I whispered quietly as one lone tear rolled down my face. It was exactly what I would have wanted if I had planned this wedding myself with ample time. Traditional Norse garb, wearing my family sword, and bringing a piece of my past, into the present, for the love of my life. This was the warrior that I had been while I was human. I valued this piece of me and I hoped that Sookie would appreciate it and understand its meaning.

"I couldn't have said it better myself brother." Stephan clasped my shoulder tightly; Stephan was always the sweet one. I never really understood why Appius had chosen him, the rest of us were all warriors and great fighters when Appius took us but sweet Stephan was a theologian and a poet. He was looked down on with much disdain in his village. He had never even lifted a sword before Appius brought him into our ranks, the others and myself spent years teaching him how to fight and how to survive. We had to show him that it was all right to be both a gentle poet and fierce warrior. In some ways he was a lot like Sookie that perfect balance between kindness and wrath.

Russell came in and took in the sight of us all with a huge smile on his face. "Okay boys it's show time. Sven, Ivar, Kaare and Stephan put on your regalia quickly. Move your asses and get up stairs you have five minutes." He turned on his heel and ran up the stairs. Within moments all my brothers were changed into similar garb as mine except all of their tunics matched Pam's dress. They were leading me up the stairs and out the French door's up the aisle and into position waiting for Sookie.

Not even a minute after I taken my position, Bubba stood just behind and to the left of Russell and softly started singing "It's Now or Never". Amelia, Pam, and Betty Joe slowly came up the aisle and took their positions. After all the girls were in position Bubba changed his song to "Love Me Tender" just as Sookie stepped into the view and with the sight of her I stumbled one step backwards and grabbed Sven's shoulder.

A gasp went through all of the guests as they took in the sight of my beautiful Fairy Princess. Instead of a bouquet of flowers she held in her hands the most beautiful sword I had ever seen. Slowly step by step she walked up the aisle and I felt tears roll down my cheeks as I watched this beauty progress towards me. Step by torturous step she came closer and closer with a giant Lion matching her steps. Just as Bubba was finishing the last notes of his song she stood directly in front of me. We stood staring at each other for a long moment as Bubba's dulcet tones died away into the night.

The lion stepped forward and bowed deeply to me and then turned to Sookie and again bowed to her and went and joined the girls at the end of the line. Bubba came forward and lightly kissed Sookie on her cheek and she beamed at him. "Thank you Bubba," she whispered softly.

"Love you Ms Sookie." He turned and sat in the front row of chairs. Sookie was truly a beauty in as close to traditional Norse wedding gown as could be found. She was also wearing the most exquisite wedding crown I had ever seen made up of myrtle leaves and white tulips. I noticed at her waist was a cinch that had the tree of life embroidered on it. I just looked up at Russell and smiled my biggest smile. He had turned my beautiful Sookie into a Norse Goddess in the a few short hours.

He turned towards Sookie and nodded once, I turned my attention back to Sookie and she knelt down before me, head bowed towards my feet. She raised the sword above her head in an obvious gesture of offering and said, "My lord I present to you my sword. Take this as a sign of my undying devotion, faith, and love to you. May our love last as long as this blade." I was dumbfounded; Russell had gone all out to make this perfect. I took the blade from Sookie's fingers, pulled him from his sheath, and kissed the blade reverently.

"I accept this blade milady and your pledge," I said to her softly. I re-sheathed the blade and handed him to Sven, and helped Sookie to her feet. I then knelt in front of her in the exact same attitude that Sookie had before, pulled my family sword from its sheath, and raised it above my head to her.

"Milady, I present to you the sword of my ancestor's, take this sword as a sign of my eternal devotion, faith, and love to you. May our love last as long as this blade." I felt the sword leave my fingers and I looked up just in time to see her place her lips against the blade. She turned slightly and handed the blade to Amelia. I had a small flash of panic seeing my sword handled by someone besides myself or my beloved, but before I could really think too much about it Sookie had taken my hand and helped me to rise. Looking straight into my eyes she said softly,"My lord I accept this blade and your pledge."

We smiled at each other for a long moment and then Russell said, "To all creatures gathered here we have come to witness the joining of two very blessed souls. Although their cultural differences vary enormously they are truly one and the same. Eric, Sookie, please face the congregation." Sookie and I joined hands and turned towards the crowd. For the first time I noticed the massive amount of people and vampires alike that had come to witness our nuptials.

Not only was every vampire from my area here but several others from various southern states were as well. The thing that surprised me the most was that the majority were all sitting on Sookie's side of the congregation. They must be various people that Sookie has helped over the years. There was also every single shifter and were from the area here as well. In the very back I could just make out a few glowing figures and I recognized the one in the middle instantly as Prince Niall Brigant. How he managed to cloak all of the scents baffled me, I noticed that almost the entire royal fae line was there. Amazing. The show of support was absolutely heartwarming. We were truly blessed.

Russell interrupted my train of thought and said to the congregation, "Will you all bear witness to the joining of Susannah Sookie Stackhouse Brigant to Eric Northman, human Son of Roland, Vampire child of Appius?"

"We will," the entire congregation said.

"Will you pledge yourselves to them just as they are pledging themselves to each other? Will you help guide them through the rough waters of marriage and life? Will you stand by their sides not only in their time of harmony but also in there hours of need?"

"We will," they said again. I could hear the roar of the lion joined in among the many voices. "Susannah, Eric, please face me." We turned back towards Russell.

He smiled deeply at us both. "We are joining together to souls from two very different lives, with the slew of traditions between them. To show the true harmony of these two the ceremony is a combination of both modern and traditional human rituals as well as Vampire tradition and the blessing of the fae. Eric will you please place your right hand in mine."

I reached up and placed my right hand in Russell's out stretched fingers. He looked over at Sookie. "Susannah will you please place your right hand on top of Eric's."

I turned my hand palm up and clasped her hand as it gently slide into mine. With a small pop Prince Niall stood next to Russell. He had in his hand a red silken cord. He wrapped it around Sookie's hands and mine, and put a loose square knot in it. "In our culture," Niall's rich elderly voice rumbled, "we do not marry because our lives are so long, but once every thousand years two souls who are fated to be find each other and thereafter are inseparable. On these rare occasions of such joining we have a ceremony called hand fasting. The pagans later imitated our tradition that turned into common practice in the human realm. In these ceremonies the Prince of the land would say a blessing for the pair to further join them together. Susannah Brigant, blood of my blood, will you accept this blessing and be forever joined mind, body and soul to Eric Northman?"

"I will," she said softly.

Niall turned to me and said, "Eric Northman, human son of Roland, Vampire child of Appius, will you accept this blessing and be joined mind, body, and soul to Susannah Brigant?"

"I will." He nodded at me approvingly and turned to Russell. Russell handed him the traditional bonding blade used in vampire marriages. Niall ran the blade across the palm of his right hand I saw the blood rise to the surface and said a quick prayer that none of the vampires went crazy for the smell of fairy blood. But the smell never came only a sudden rush of power and magic. Niall placed his hand over mine and Sookie's allowing the blood to drip for a moment over our hands. I felt the sudden push of power into my hands and a snap of Sookie and I becoming one for just a moment while Niall said**,** "Let there be love between you, let your souls always speak truth to the other, let the two halves that were torn apart become one again. Let the love that was truly fated by the Gods come to blossom and flourish for all time. Let there always be happiness in your home." As the last words died away the silken cord that bound Sookie and I melted into nothingness and although it was gone I could still feel its press against my skin binding me forever to my love. With another small pop Niall disappeared.

Russell immediately progressed the ceremony. "We have had the Norse presentation of the swords, we have had the blessing of the fae and now we will have the human tradition of the exchanging of the vows and rings. Susannah please take Eric's ring and place it on the ring finger of his left hand." She looked at me a moment and I just nodded towards Amelia; she turned slightly and the witch handed her the wedding band that I had picked up earlier to her. Sookie turned back to me with a huge smile on her face she clearly approved of the band I had picked out. She slowly slid the ring on my finger clasping my hand with both of hers, tears streaming down her face.

"Do you Susannah Sookie Stackhouse Brigant take Eric Northman**,** human son of Roland**,** Vampire child of Appius, to be your wedded husband?"

"I do."

"Do you promise to love him, honor him, obey him, through sickness and in health through good times and bad for all of Eternity?"

"I do."

"Then please repeat after me. I Princess Susannah Brigant."

"I Princess Susannah Brigant," Sookie mimicked.

"Take thee Eric Northman," Russell said.

"Take thee Eric Northman."

"To be my lawfully wedded husband."

"To be my lawfully wedded husband," she mimicked and my heart swelled.

"For all of eternity and beyond."

"For all of eternity and beyond," Sookie finished. I wanted nothing more than to take her in my arms and kiss her forever with those words.

Russell turned to me. "Eric please take Susannah's rings and place them on her left ring finger." I turned to Sven and he quickly handed me her rings. I slid them on her beautiful trembling finger and smiled at the sight of these rings binding us together. I kissed her rings gently and Russell cleared his throat to get my attention. "Do you Eric, human son of Roland, Vampire child of Appius, take Princess Susannah Sookie Stackhouse Brigant to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do."

"Do you promise to love her, honor her, obey her, through sickness and in health through good times and bad for all of Eternity?"

"I do."

"Then please repeat after me. I Eric Northman, human Son of Roland, Vampire child of Appius, take thee Princess Susannah Brigant to be my lawfully wedded wife for all of eternity and beyond my final death."

"I Eric Northman, human Son of Roland, Vampire child of Appius, take thee Princess Susannah Brigant to be my lawfully wedded wife for all of eternity and beyond my final death." I softly stroked Sookie's hand with my thumb. "I love you," I whispered.

"I love you too."

"This is the part of the ceremony where the bride and groom typically kiss but they are just going to have to wait." Russell laughed but just to spite him I leaned forward and placed one quick kiss on Sookie's lips and the entire crowd roared with laughter. "Very well then," Russell chuckled amusedly. "The joining of blood in the vampire culture is the most scared of trusts that we can bestow on another." Russell had the ceremonial knife and chalice in his hands. "Eric Northman, do you give your blood willingly to this woman so that she may be your bonded for all of eternity?"

"I Eric Northman, do freely give my blood to this woman to become my bonded for all of eternity."

"Then please place your left wrist above the chalice." He turned to Sookie. "Do you Sookie Stackhouse give your blood willingly to this man so that he may be your bonded for all of eternity?"

"I Sookie Stackhouse, do freely give my blood to this man to become my bonded for all of eternity."

"Then please place your left wrist above the chalice. Let the blood that flows in the veins of you both fill you up and become a bonded pair. Let you eternally be joined and know each other as one soul." He quickly slashed my wrist and then Sookie's, and you have to give that girl credit, she didn't even flinch. "Let the life force of you both flow into this cup and become one." Russell nodded to me and I took Sookie's wrist and licked it once to help the bleeding stop. Russell then nodded to Sookie and she imitated my gesture. "Let the two halves now become one whole being." He handed the chalice to Sookie and she held it to my lips, helping me to drink down half of the divine mixture of our combined blood. She handed the chalice back to Russell who then handed it to me and I in turn helped Sookie drink down the rest.

I lowered the cup from her lips and she placed her hands in mine, the two of us clasping the chalice between us. "What the Gods and Fates have created let no man tear asunder. Eric you may now kiss your bride, Sookie you may now kiss you groom." We handed the chalice back to Russell and I pulled my wife tightly too me. I dipped her backwards and she laughed that beautiful perfect sound of joy and I kissed her for all I was worth. Letting her know with each movement of my lips each stroke of my tongue how much I loved her.

It wasn't a battle of wills but a perfect joining each of us pushing and pulling in perfect harmony. I heard a roar of applause go through the crowd and I slowly pulled away. My beautiful darling wife was flushed and practically glowing from our exchange. I helped her to stand and slide my arm around her waist and faced the crowd. Russell's voice boomed over us. "Ladies and gentleman, vampires and humans, Were's and shifter's and most honored fae, I present for the first time Mr. Eric Northman and Mrs. Susannah Northman." Another roar of hoots hollers and applause went through the crowd coagulating us on our joining.

I felt Russell's firm hand at the small of my back as he motioned us off to the side of the platform. He leaned forward between Sookie and myself and said, "Greet your guests here while we set up for your reception." We both just nodded in agreement as guest after guest poured forward and congratulated us. The first in line was Amelia and Sven with our swords. They both helped to position them on our hips, the both congratulated us and went to help with the set up of the reception. After that it was a whirl of people thanking us for letting them come and wishing us the best of luck.

After what felt like an hour but was probably only ten minutes the last person in line was Bubba. He came to me first and clasped my forearm tightly and said, "Now you listen here Mr. Eric you take real good care of my Sookie, she is precious. If you ever need me all you have to do is call and I will be there for you both." He bowed deeply to me and I returned the gesture. I was very surprised by his eloquent words**.** I had always heard that he was a little addle brained and I didn't understand what had gotten into him until I saw the way he looked at Sookie. He truly adored her**;** maybe even loved her**,** and that purity of love enabled him to be more of his original self.

"Thank you Bubba. I love her very much and I promise you I will take care of her. I won't hesitate to call if I or Sookie need you." He nodded again and went to Sookie pulling her up into a huge hug.

"Miss Sookie if you ever need me you know I will be there for you right?"

"Of course Bubba, and thank you so much for singing for me it means the world to me." Tears slowly fell down her face and Bubba gently wiped them away.

"Don't cry Sookie please, I have two more surprises for you. Do you want to hear them darlin'?" He smiled that unforgettable smile at her and she brushed the ever-present lock of hair out of his eyes.

"Of course," she said quietly.

"The first, just for tonight mind you because you grandpa helped me be more, well me, you can call me by my real name." Sookie gasped in astonishment and Bubba just smiled wider at her. "Second, I am going to sing all of your favorite songs for you to dance your cute little behind to tonight."

"Oh Elvis," she exclaimed throwing herself into his arms again. "Even Blue Hawaii?"

He laughed again. "Of course what would a performance be without Blue Hawaii?" He kissed her gently on her forehead pulled back slightly and walked away towards the stage area.

Sookie turned towards me bouncing up and down slightly with excitement. "Oh my god Eric we get to dance at our wedding to the one and only Elvis Presley. Oh my god oh my god." She was so gleeful that I grinned ear to ear at her.

"You are a southern girl through and through and so stinking cute to boot." I pulled her to me and kissed her deeply; I was the luckiest man in the world to have found her. "I love you Sookie, oh wait, Susannah."

She slapped my arm lightly. "I hate that name that's why I never use it, but I love you too Eric." She went up on tip toe and kissed me softly.


	10. Chapter 10

**Authors Notes:**

I wanted everyone to know that this last week has not been a good week for me. First I hurt my back, I have an old injury that I just happened to reinjure. It isn't healing as fast as I would like and it has been hard to sit in my computer chair for any length of time to get some writing done. Heck, I could barely sit in my chair long enough to read Ericizmine's new chapters for Dead Tired and Bored to Death. Then to top it all off I have been having to deal with this funky illness that keeps popping up. No one is really sure what it is, but it wipes me out every time I come down with it. So I am warning all of you right now, I am unsure if I will have next week's chapters out on time. I do have SoD written up, but have not received the edited version back yet. And I have only gotten about a third of the way through the next chapter of The Dance. We will just have to wait and see how I progress during the week. Right now I have zero energy. Just sitting here trying to think how to express myself in my Authors notes is a HUGE challenge for me.

Now, just so everyone knows there are a few poems in this chapter. I had intended to list the sources but because of everything that has been occurring I haven't had the energy. Two of the poems I pulled from the internet years ago because I enjoyed them, but for some odd reason I didn't keep who they were by. I will try and remember to post my sources with my next chapter so that ya'll know where I got them.

As always, I loved everyone's reviews of the last chapter and I always look forward to hearing what ya'll think. Thank you for taking the time to review.

Tons of love from the west coast,

Lilli

**Chapter 10**

-Sookie

Eric lifts me up and swings me around lightly; everything is so perfect and I couldn't ask for more. Our wedding went off without a hitch, my grandfather had blessed us with fae magic, and now my favorite person in the whole world is going to sing at our reception. I hear a tap tap tap of someone hitting a microphone and Eric and I both turn towards the raised platform we had previously been standing on. I look around quickly and notice that all of the chairs have been removed and replaced by a huge dance floor. On the edges of the dance floor are tables, each lit with beautiful candles and flowers.

"Excuse me everyone, if I can have your attention please." The whole crowd stops their various chatter and turns towards Russell. "It meant a lot to me that my dear friend Sookie called me yesterday and asked me to officiate at her bonding and wedding. Those of us that are in the supernatural community know how much this woman has done for us all. She has proven herself a true friend to all of us, she never judges us for what we are, simply for whom we are and how we live our lives. She even knows that most of us had to do unspeakable things in our pasts and yet she still does not judge us, she simply asks that we try and live better now. She is truly a friend to us all and no matter what she always comes to our aid when she is called, and even when she isn't. She saved many of you here tonight from the bombing at Rhodes, or she helped save you during the war of your packs. She always puts everyone else before herself, which has cost her dearly on many occasions. So tonight I have arranged several special treats for our girl Sookie, but first let us raise our glasses to Sookie and Eric. May they always be blessed."

"May they always be blessed**,**" the entire crowd chanted chants.

"Now as I understand it, a few of you have asked that you could say a few special words. The first I believe is one of Eric's brother's Stephan. Stephan come up here and say your peace friend."

I watch as an almost photocopy of Eric progresses towards the stage. He takes the mic, and I feel Eric pull me in front of him and cuddle me firmly to his chest, as if I were a large Sookie shaped teddy bear. "Sookie and Eric, first I would just like to say that on behalf of all of our brothers we wish you all the happiness in the world." Stephan gestures slightly to three other men standing off to the side of the stage. They too were almost photocopies of Eric but they had a few different aspects about their features, like hair color or eye color, but for the most part they were identical. Damn. They sure knew how to make them in Scandinavia.

"Sookie, when I was turned to this life I was a scholar and a poet, not a warrior like my brothers. Eric looked out for me because I was soft. He helped to teach me the ways of the sword and helped me survive. The gift that I wish to bestow on you is three poems from our culture. The first is what I and everyone else, including your beloved, sees when we look at you. It is about the God Frey and his beloved Gerda. One day Frey, being young and mischievous, snuck up and sat on the mighty Odin's throne where you can see the whole wide world. Looking towards the frozen north, he saw a beautiful young maiden enter the home of a frost giant. As she raised her hand to lift the latch her radiant beauty illuminated sea and sky.

"A moment later, this lovely creature, whom to this day is considered the personification of the Northern lights, vanished within her father's home**.** Frey pensively wondered his way back to Alfheim, his heart oppressed with longing to make this fair maiden his wife. He knew though that there may never be a way for him to join with this beautiful maiden, as she was the relative of a giant murdered by the Gods. Frey confessed all of this to his father and eventually the two were joined in blissful marriage, but this is what he said when her first laid eyes upon his soon to be bride.

'In Gymer's court I saw her move,

The maid who fires my breast with love;

Her snow-white arms and bosom fair

Shone lovely, kindling sea and air.

Dear is she to my wishes, more

Than e'er was maid to youth before.'"

A small round of applause ignites around me and I bush deeply at Stephan's poem. Stephan just compared me to one of the most beautiful occurrences in all of nature. Eric kisses my neck softly and says, "It's really true my love you are more beautiful than even the great Northern lights." I blush again and he just laughs lightly at my self imposed embarrassment.

Stephan waits for everyone to quiet down and begins again. "The next is about a beautiful river nymph, Lorelei. She was an immortal, during the day she hid in the depths of her cool riverbed only to emerge late at night. She would appear in the moonlight, sitting on top of a large rock so that all that passed up and down her stream could admire her beauty. On some nights when the wind blew she would sing to the passing travelers on her river, the men would become so entranced with her beauty and song that they would crash into the rocks and drown."

I gasp lightly fully taken up in the story. "But one man, a brave young fisherman from a nearby town approached her on the banks of her river every night to admire her beauty and listen to her song. Every night before they parted Lorelei would tell the young man where to cast his nets on the next day so that his fishing would be bountiful. Every day he listened to her and he would bring home the most fish to his village. Months went by and Lorelei fell in love with the man. One morning the young man did not return to his village and immediately they searched for him trying to discover what had become of their country man. When they approached Lorelei's river she softly explained to them that she could no longer live without her beloved and that she had made him like her and they lived together in the depths of her river for all of eternity."

Eric squeezes my waist gently and kisses the top of head. "Here is the song that the men of the village wrote about the beautiful Lorelei.

'Above the maiden sitteth,

A wondrous form, and fair;

With jewels bright she plaiteth

Her shining golden hair;

The task with song beguiled;

A fitful burden bear it-

That melody so wild.'"

There is a small round of applause from the crowd and Stephan bows slightly to them. "The final poem is about the perfect love of the Goddess Freya and the God Odur." There is a small bit of chuckling from the brothers, apparently they all knew this story well. "Freya, the golden-haired blue eyed Goddess was at times to be considered the Goddess of the earth, as well as many other things, but in this story just the Goddess of the earth. Because of this she married the fair-haired Odur, a personification of the summer sun. Freya loved her husband dearly and they lived together happily for many years. After a time Odur grew weary of his wife's attention and wandered away for a time.

"Freya was so heartbroken with her husband's absence that she began to cry. She cried and cried; she cried so much that her tears hit the earth, and everywhere her precious tears soaked into the earth they turned the hard rock into precious gold, and every time her tears hit the water of the rivers, streams, and oceans her tears turned into beautiful amber. Freya, swearing to return to her love, wandered from town to town spreading the precious metal and jewels throughout the land in search of her husband.

"After a time she found her beloved husband under the bows of a myrtle tree sleeping soundly. After that day the two lived together in perfect harmony never to be parted from the other's side again. When their lips kissed together for the first time the barren winter that had seemed never ending was melted into the beautiful spring. Their love had inspired such warmth that it radiated around them and sprung flowers from the ground and brought prosperity back to the land. The myrtle leaf is to this day used as a blessing for young brides in their traditional wedding crowns, like the one you wear on your head. It is a symbol that all love will bring forth the precious spring.

'Out of the morning land,

Over the snowdrifts,

Beautiful Freya came

Tripping to Scoring.

White were the moorlands,

And frozen before her;

Green were the moorlands,

And blooming behind her.

Out of her gold locks

Shaking the spring flowers,

Out of her garments

Shaking the south wind,

Around the birches

Awaking the throstles,

And making chaste housewives all

Long for their heroes home,

Loving and love-giving,

Came she to Scoring.'

"With that let us all raise our glasses to the beautiful Sookie and to the eternal love that her and my brother share. To Eric and Sookie." He raises his glass high and everyone echoes**,** "To Eric and Sookie."

Russell retakes the stage and says, "Thank you Stephan for your beautiful words. Next I believe we have Sam Merlotte speaking for the bride's friends and family, so Sam why don't you come on up here." I look back and forth until I spot Sam making his way through the crowd. It is so funny how awkward he is moving, when earlier he had been so graceful as the beautiful red-gold lion. He takes the stage and runs his hand nervously through his mane of strawberry blonde hair and clears his throat nervously.

"Geez, trying to follow Stephen is killing me," he laughs awkwardly and I join him. He looks down at me and smiles, a smile that not only reached his eyes but radiates warmth and love from his very soul. "So I guess first I would like to say to Eric how lucky you are to have gotten this woman as your wife. God knows that quite a few of us have loved Sook in one way or another but none of us have quite fit the bill for her. Today though, for the first time, I know that we all see a Sookie that is whole, happy, and very much in love with her chosen life partner. Eric, all of us who know you or of you know that you will be up for the challenge that is Sookie Stackhouse." A laugh rolls through the crowd and I swear I even heard a snort or two. _Jeez, I am not that difficult._

"Now Sook, don't go getting yourself all in a huff about it. You seem to have a special panache for having to be the savior of everyone. Even if you don't know them you will throw yourself in front of bullet like your friggin Superman. NO, wait I see you as more a Wonder Woman kind of a girl." Eric chuckles behind me and I can't help but let out a little giggle myself. _What is it with comparing me to friggin' Linda Carter?_

"Anyways, it is good that now you will not have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders alone anymore. You're not Atlas sweetie, you need the extra support and I know that Eric will be the one who gives you that. So all that being said I must admit that I do have a little poem that I think is most fitting for the occasion, by the Great Bard himself, William Shakespeare.

'Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind,

And therefore is cupid painted blind.

Nor hath love of any judgment taste,

Wings, and no eyes, figure unheedy haste.

Therefore is love said to be a child,

Because in choice he is so oft' beguiled.'

"With that, all there is left to say is good luck Eric and Sookie. May you always be blessed." Sam blushes a little, comes off the large stage, kisses my cheek softly, and shakes Eric's hand, then melts back into the crowd. Poor Sam, he really isn't one to be the center of attention. I appreciate his kind words though and I am thankful that Russell got Sam to say something instead of God forbid Jason. Knowing him he would have gotten up on stage and launched into, '_There once was a lady from Nantucket_.'

Russell takes the stage again and says, "I believe the groom has a few words he would like to say to his lovely bride. So without a bunch of pomp and frill Eric you have the floor." Eric turns me towards him and caresses my cheek softly.

"Beloved, it really amazes me that we have only known each other for just under twenty four hours. To me it feels like we have been together for years. You my darling are my angel, and my heart swells with love that you are now mine. My wife, my beloved, my friend, my companion, I am honored that you have chosen to be with me." He kisses my lips softly and lingers there for just a moment. I can feel my joy welling up inside and I think it might burst out of my chest and scorch everyone who is standing too close.

"I do have a little poem that I would like to share with you. I have read it many times, but until today, until this moment, I never really understood its meaning.

'The lover sleeps and amid his dreams

His angel comes on sunlit beams.

To waken him with kisses sweet,

For her love for him is oh so deep.

She wakes him with her caresses light

Upon his skin and smiles so bright.

And in her eyes, he sees the love

She feels for him neath stars above.

He comes to her to gently place,

Kisses upon her neck and face.

To caress her body and touch her soul.

For together two become a whole.

The love they make is deep and true

And in this embrace their love renew.

When all is done and all's been said,

Upon her breasts he rests his head.

And hears her heart beat for him alone.

A greater love, he's never known.'"

When the last word left his lips he leans forward and gives me a deep kiss. It is not rushed or hurried with the oppression of the surrounding crowd that gawked on. No, it is loving and gentle and sweet, and I can almost feel every drop of this man's love for me coming through with each probe of his tongue and small nip of his teeth. We finally break apart and a roar of hoots, hollers, and applause rolls through the crowd. Amazing. I have never before had someone clap for me when I kissed someone and I have had it happen twice in one day today.

A small tapping on the microphone draws our attention back to the stage and Russell says, "Sookie do you have anything you would like to say?"

"Oh, ummm well shoot, I don't really have anything prepared so I can't be near as eloquent as ya'll." I look up into Eric's beautiful eyes, filled with nothing but pure happiness and love. I knew know that he doesn't really care if I say anything at all. Just being here, with him, in this moment is enough for him. Just then the perfect little poem pops into my head. "So, like you Eric, I read this poem many times and never really could grasp the magnitude of what the author was saying here. For I had never felt such a thing before, but standing here in front of you, wearing your ring and calling you my husband, I finally get it.

'It's impossible to describe how it feels.

How when I'm away from him

everything around me seems gray and lifeless,

then when I step into his presence

all of life abounds once more.

It becomes splendid, and meaningful.

And when he speaks,

his voice is more than just vocal intonations.

It's a refrain.

And when he touches me

I know why I was born;

and when he laughs

I am happier than when I laugh myself;

and when we part

it is the November of my heart.'"

One tear is rolling down Eric's cheek and I kiss it away. "I love you," I whisper to him softly, and although I am sure half the people surrounding us can hear me, it feels like a very private moment that only the two of us should have.

He smiles at me softly and says, "JAG älska du alltför liten en. JAG älska du alltför." (I love you too little one. I love you too.)

"Ladies and gentleman I believe that is the last of the speeches for the evening, so now let's really get this party started. I have some wonderful entertainment lined up for you this evening. As a special gift from the man from Memphis he has agreed to sing for our beloved Miss Stackhouse. So without further ado I give you, the King of Rock and Roll, ELVIS presley!" Russell waves his arm enthusiastically to the left and on came Bubba, in a gorgeous leather suit all in black. It looks exactly like the one he wore once before and he looks very dashing in it, with his hair perfectly quaffed and his smile lighting up his face.

"Thank you, thank you very much." The crowd goes wild with applause at that very famous line and all the chipies rush the stage jumping up and down enthusiastically at the arrival of the much loved King. "You know Miss Sookie and me we are real close and have been through a whole lot together. She means a whole lot to me and I couldn't think of a better gift to give to her and Mr. Eric than to sing for them on their wedding day. Ya'll know I am just a big ol' teddy bear at heart. So, Miss Sookie, Mr. Eric will you please do me the honor of dancing your first dance as husband and wife to one of my songs?"

We both nod enthusiastically and make our way to the middle of the large dance floor. A hush falls over the crowd and people look truly torn between watching us and watching Bubba. That was all right with me; let him have his moment in the sun, so to speak. He always did love a good performance and it has been a really long time since he has gotten to do what he once truly loved. Eric's hand rests gently on my waist while his other grasps my hand firmly and we wait for the music to begin.

As the first notes of the song fill the night air I know it is perfect for this moment. It truly describes Eric and I, and the craziness of all of this. Just over twenty four hours ago I thought I was going to die miserable and alone with no one to love and no one who truly cared for me. Now though, I have the perfect man, and what looks to be a perfect life, as long as I have this man by my side.

"Wise men say only fools rush in  
But I can't help falling in love with you  
Shall I stay  
Would it be a sin  
If I can't help falling in love with you

Like a river flows surely to the sea  
Darling so it goes  
Some things are meant to be  
Take my hand, take my whole life too  
For I can't help falling in love with you

Like a river flows surely to the sea  
Darling so it goes  
Some things are meant to be  
Take my hand, take my whole life too  
For I can't help falling in love with you  
For I can't help falling in love with you"

Eric spins and twirls and whirls me across the floor as Bubba's dulcet tones float magically over us all, entwining us in the spell of love and happiness. As the song slowly comes to a close Eric dips me low just like the night before and places the softest kiss upon my lips. Eric's kisses always leave me breathless and this one was no exception, but my smile is so large from my happiness that he pulls back slightly and just laughs lightly. It is perfect, everything is perfect, and the night is only just starting.

Immediately after we right ourselves, Bubba launches into _A Little Less Conversation_ and we shimmy and shake our way across the floor right along with everyone else, a few times Eric even flings me in the air so high that I feel like I am truly going to be able to touch the moon and stars. Bubba pulls out all the stops singing every hit he ever had and some that I had no clue he had ever even done. When he starts Jail House Rock he jumps off the stage and we dance around singing the song at the top of our lungs. I have always loved this song, ever since I was a little girl. It is the first song that made me truly fall in love with the King.

After what feels like hours of dancing Russell comes back on stage causing the crowd to hush. "Sookie, Eric can you come and join me for the final surprise of the evening." Eric and I look at each other confused, but we just shrug and walk slowly up onto the stage.

Standing up there, even with all of the bright lights shining on us, I notice something missing amongst my party guests, mainly the humans. I look over at Russell confused as to what is going on and he just smiles at me softly. "So Sookie my dear, now that you are one of us, we are going to let you in on one of our kind's largest secrets. As you can see this is for vampire ears only, which is why all of your human and shifter friends have departed. You can never tell anyone about this secret, do you understand?"

"Of course," I say, confused, but more than willing to agree. I look over at Eric and I can tell he is starting to become excited and bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet. It seems like such an out of character gesture for him.

"Where?" Eric asks Russell softly and Russell shoots Eric a glare.

"Stop, you better not ruin this." Russell turns to me and smiles. "So, Sook my love, let's speak in hypothetical's alright?"

I nod my head in agreement. "I can do that."

"Sookie, who is the one singer that has passed into the great beyond that you have always told me you wanted to meet?"

"Without hesitation Jim Morrison**,** of course with Jimmy Hendrix and Janis Joplin would also be fantastic, but there was always something about Jim. I would have loved to be able to sit down with him and pick his brain for days about the depths of his poetry."

I feel a small tap on my shoulder and turn around to see who is standing behind me, and I almost faint. Eric places his hand at the small of my back to help steady me. Because there in front of me stands a very much alive, well sort of seeing how he was clearly a vampire, Jim Morrison. "No freaking way!" I exclaim.

He smiles at me lightly and says**,** "There isn't much I can do about Janis or Jimmy but you think I would do, for at least a little while?"

Without even thinking, the inner groupie in me comes bubbling to the surface and I launch myself at him, grappling him in a huge bear hug. I quickly release him and jump up and down about to piss my panties with excitement. "You're fricking Jim Morison, oh my God!" I squeal. The entire crowd bubbles with laughter and I feel the sharp burn of embarrassment color my cheeks.

"Don't blush darling, you are the sweetest little peach I ever did see." He winks at me and I feel a blush of a whole different kind color my face. Okay, I admit it, I kind of, sort of, okay, completely have always had a thing for him. He smiles a crocked smile at me that reminds me of Eric. He turns to Eric and pulls him tightly into a very manly hug and says, "Father, long time no see."

"Too long my boy." My mouth drops in astonishment.

"Wait… what… you… Eric oh my God did you turn him?" Eric just nods his head and laughs lightly.

"So Sookie," Jim says pulling me from my thoughts that are trying to wrap themselves around the idea that not only was Jim Morison still alive, well not dead technically, but that Eric had been the one to bring my all time favorite singer over to the dark side. It is just too crazy for words. "I hear you are having a party to celebrate getting yourself hitched to the old man here. Do you mind if I sing a few songs? I know the king is a hard act to follow, but I think I can give it a shot. I so rarely get the opportunity to sing for anyone, got to keep everything so hush hush." He winks at me.

"Oh my Lord, of course you can sing, I mean, I would love too, I mean I would be honored if you would."

Jim places a small kiss on my cheek and swats my ass, laughing merrily at the shock on my face, and says, "Get your pretty little behind out on that dance floor sugar, and shake what your mama gave ya." I laughed loudly, but I also felt a bright blush burn across my cheeks.

Eric pulls me down on the dance floor and we dance happily to all of Jim's greatest hits. As he is singing Crystal Ship, Eric pulls me to his chest tightly and kisses me softly on the crown of my head. I sigh in contentment and whisper to him, "I couldn't have pictured a better day."

I look up into his big blue eyes and see a smug smile on his face. "Of course it was a perfect day, you got married to me." I laugh lightly at his quip and he brushes his lips against mine. "You know what I just realized Mrs. Northman?" he asks pulling away from me slightly and smiling.

"What's that my love?"

"I forgot to ask you a very important question before tonight's ceremony?"

I furrow my brow slightly, trying to figure out what he can possibly have to ask me. "And that would be?" I ask after it becomes apparent to me that I am not going to be able to figure out what this question is.

"Sookie Stackhouse," he says, stepping away from me and getting down on one knee. "Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife and spending the rest of your days with me?"

I laugh loudly, a bark of laughter that is an odd combination of hysteria, amusement, and surprise. "I think we are doing this in the wrong order Eric."

He smiles at me and shakes his head. "I know it is quick, I know we just met each other, but I know we were meant to spend the rest of our days together. So, will you marry me?" I shake my head at him, wondering if he was seriously seeking an answer to his question, and the absurdity of the whole thing. "Come on now Sookie," he says smiling at me. "You are making me a bit nervous here."

I slap his broad shoulders lightly and laugh. "Of course I will marry you, you big oaf. I wouldn't have said I do less than two hours ago if I didn't want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Eric springs effortlessly to his feet and chuckles lightly. "Good, for a minute there I thought you were going to say no." He winks at me. "Now my wife," he says sweeping me up into his arms bridal style. "I am in need of attending to my husbandly duties. It is our wedding night after all and there are certain expectations to be met. What do you think? Can we sneak away without anyone noticing?" He looks down at me, a fire burning behind his eyes, telling me very plainly exactly what he intends to do to me.

"I could care less if they notice or not, I say we just go and make excuses later."

"I couldn't agree more." He laughs that sexy laugh that only men are capable of right before they do wicked things to your body, and make you scream to the heavens swearing that they are God.

He leans his head forward and crushes my lips beneath him, bruising my lips and swallowing my tongue. A small moan of excitement vibrates up my throat, down my tongue and into his mouth, and he eats up every last miniscule of sound as if it is candy. He pulls away, and I am left feeling dazed and very unsatisfied. "I love you," I whisper huskily, "but if you don't move your ass down to our room, I will stake you myself. There is no way I am going to be molesting you in front of one hundred other people and you have me teetering dangerously close to doing just that."

"As you wish." He smiles and lightly kisses my forehead, zipping us quickly down the stairs and into our bedroom, where he fulfilled the lustful promises of that kiss tenfold.


	11. Chapter 11

**Authors Notes:**

Just a couple of quick things and I will let ya'll get on to the chapter. First thank you all so much to those of you who took the time to send your kind words and well wishes for my health to return quickly, it means a lot to me and I really appreciate it. I am feeling a ton better, my back is still killing me but we can't have it all. I am a firm believer in the power of positive thought and ya'll were sending a ton of positive thought my way, so thank you.

I am half tempted to sit and apologize to ya'll for getting these chapters up a day late, but I am not gonna, this is me resisting that urge. I will however say stuff happens. It took me awhile to get them written and then I had to send them off to my beautiful editor, who has a life outside of helping me, so things happen. I am kind of behind on all of it, typically I have the chapters for the following week written and sent off to Catie the day I post the new ones, but because of being sick and the pain in my back I fell behind. I will try and get back on track, but there are no guarantees. I have a little one that I take care of and as seriously as I take my writing, it is hard for me to make the time. So, if I am late next week, just know it's because of all these things and not because the story is dead, far from it, I am actually almost done with the next chapter in The Dance. I should have more time to write in the following week though because my daughter is going on a little vacation, which will give me more quiet time to get my work done.

Anyways, as always thank you so much for taking the time to read and review my story. It means the world to me and I always love hearing what ya'll have to say, good, bad, or indifferent. So hit the little green button and tell me what you think, point out a favorite line, and maybe a song or two that popped into your head while reading.

Tons of love from the west coast,

Lilli

**Chapter 11**

** Sookie's Point of View **

A gentle caress on my cheek wakes me from my sound sleep**.** I crack an eye open to see a smiling vampire staring at me. "Evening lover," Eric says softly.

I look over at the clock on the nightstand next to me and see it is indeed evening, well after 6 in the evening for a matter of fact. "Well shit," I say, "did I really sleep through the entire day?"

He chuckles softly at me. "Mmhmm."

"How is that even possible? I don't think I have slept more than four hours in a row since…" I stop and think about that for a second, trying to remember the last time I had actually had a whole night's sleep. "Well since, before I met Asshole."

"You mean Bill?"

"Yes I mean him! How did I manage to sleep so long?" I ask more to myself than to him, not really expecting much of answer.

"Well, you did have a rather busy day yesterday, and it helps that I wore you out last night after we absconded from our own wedding reception," he says, wiggling his eyebrows at me suggestively. I feel a blush creep up my cheeks, but laugh at his antics all the same.

"Mmm lover I love it when you turn that particular shade of pink." He raises an eyebrow at me and a small lopsided smirk forms on his face. "I will have to think up more ways to turn you that…" he likes his lips slowly, "delectable color."

I roll my eyes at him. "Didn't you get enough Sookie nookie last night?"

He barks loudly with laughter. "Sookie nookie! Why lover what an eloquent way to put it, but to answer your question, no I most certainly did not get enough last night. Nor will I get enough any night ever. I want to do things to you that curl your toes and turn you into a useless blob of jelly. I want your voice to become hoarse from screaming my name. I want you to receive so much pleasure that you beg me to stop because you can't take any more."

My thighs tighten with his suggestions because my love life, or lack thereof, quite frankly has always fallen short, and if nothing else positive can be said about Eric Northman, it is that he is no slouch in the bedroom. "Mmm sounds lovely," I say. "Are you sure you are up for the challenge?"

He leans forward, barely brushing his lips with mine and nipping at them just slightly. "Definitely," he whispers and I can feel his cool breath spreading across my face, sending chills down my spine. "It's too bad though that we don't have the time," he says, and it takes a moment for that sentence to register in my head, because he has me so discombobulated with all the teasing and sexual innuendo. He must have been watching my facial expressions closely because the moment I figured it out he winked at me and then was gone.

I look around the room to see him standing in the doorway of his huge bathroom. "I am just going to take a quick shower and then I will pack our things while you are getting ready. Love you." He winks at me again, that darn smirk on his face, AGAIN! I think that smirk is going to go from cute to damned annoying pretty quickly if he keeps up this attitude. He pushes the bathroom door shut behind him and I groan in frustration, tossing a pillow at the door for extra emphasis. I can just make out his low chuckle over the sounds of running water.

I stare up at the ceiling, letting my mind wander aimlessly while I wait for Eric to get his cute behind out of the shower. I really wish we didn't have to even make this stupid trip to Vegas, but Eric says it is necessary for some reason. When it comes to vampire politics, I am always confused. Considering the fact that I have been embroiled in them for the last two years, you would think that I would have figured some of them out by now. But it seems to me that they have no rhyme or reason, other than the weak die and the strong survive. In their world that old proverb is very true**;** it is a dog eat dog world.

I shake my head lightly, trying to push aside thoughts of de Castro and why he could possibly want us to come to Vegas. I let my mind wander to last night after we had managed to make our escape from the wedding reception.

_Eric presses me firmly to his chest, kissing me silly the entire way down into his underground hidey hole. Never once does he stop to look, he just rushes forward trying desperately to get us to our ultimate goal. I have the funny feeling that if we didn't reach the bedroom soon, any horizontal surface would do, well any vertical one might work as well, hell who am I kidding at this moment I would sit on a cactus if it meant I could get his clothes off any faster._

_We must have reached our final destination because the forward propelling force that I had previously felt suddenly came to an abrupt halt. Eric gently set me down on my feet and our kiss slowed, it is like now that we are here, in our room the rush to tear each other's clothes off and become intimate, had dissipated slightly. "This is so crazy," I say to him softly between kisses._

"_What is lover?" he asks, pressing his lips against mine again before I had the opportunity to answer._

_He finally pulls away slightly, leaving my lips feeling bruised in the best way, but I still felt the loss of him profoundly. "This is crazy, us, everything. I can't believe we just got married after only knowing each other for a day. It is so unlike me. I am just having a hard time wrapping my head around it, that's all."_

_Eric ponders this for a moment, his expressive face turning into a cool mask to hide whatever it is that he is feeling at the moment. "Do you regret getting married Sookie? Do you not want this?" he asks, waving his hand nonchalantly between the two of us._

"_God No! I mean… of course I want the two of us, but you have to admit Eric it is kind of nuts. We don't even really know each other. It isn't that it doesn't feel right, I have no doubts about it at all, but it is just so out of character for me. I mean normally I would have been all kinds of irritated at Russell for plannin' a weddin' without talkin' to me first, but the thought to be mad never even occurred to me when we went into that bridal shop. I haven't stopped to question your sincerity one time, I haven't even thought twice about how I could possibly be in love with you after only a day. Normally I am running from relationships, not towards them." I shrug. "It is just really out of my normal parameters of behavior. I know it is right, and this is exactly what is meant to happen. I just think it's crazy is all."_

_I wait in a dreadful silence as Eric thinks about my comments. "I must admit, although I do so begrudgingly, that I agree with you. I have never been one to rush into anything, even while I was still human__**.**__ I was then and still am, an excellent strategist, and part of that is examining every detail for possible outcomes. I haven't once stopped to examine our situation. It is like someone came and just turned that switch off in my brain when it comes to you. It is also quite unlike me to show so much, emotion to someone I don't know. Even Pamela does not see a lot of what I am feeling, despite the fact that we have been together for a very long time. With you it just all comes so… so…"_

"_Easy." We say in unison and then laugh at speaking at the exact same time._

_We stare into each other's eyes, both of us, well I couldn't speak for Eric but I have no doubt his thinking was similar to mine, trying to figure out what it is about the other that makes it all so simple. What makes this, our relationship, come so naturally and effortlessly. What makes us both jump head first into a blood bond and marriage without even stopping and thinking about it first. I didn't have doubts, not even a little bit, but I still wondered, how is it that I could change my whole life so drastically and never once stop to think about all the what if's and could be's?_

"_Sookie," Eric says softly after awhile._

"_Yes Eric," I respond._

_He steps closer to me cupping my cheek in his enormous hand; I can feel the soft, slick calluses on his hands and fingers as they brush against me. I smile lightly at him; just this gentle touch brought me such happiness. "It doesn't matter why we are acting so impulsively, we have each other and that is all that matters. I love you and I will love you for the rest of my life." _

"_Oh Eric, I love you too and you're right, it really doesn't matter, as long as we're happy."_

_He leans forward, grips my chin softly, and pulls my bottom lip into his mouth, sucking on it slightly and then giving it a soft nibble, and a moan builds in my chest and breaks through my lips. When my lips part to allow the escape of my ecstasy, Eric's tongue pushes into my mouth, devouring every last morsel of my moan. His tongue sweeps across mine in slow strokes, stoking the fire that is already roaring inside me. I didn't think it was possible to climax from a kiss, but somehow I knew that if anyone could cause that to happen, it would be Eric. _

_His fangs come out of hiding suddenly, piercing my tongue and drawing blood, his own moans of excitement travel down my throat and into my belly, rolling around and causing a feeling of contentment within me. His free hand grips my hip tightly and he pulls my body closer to his. It still isn't close enough and we both groan in a mixture of frustration and anticipation. _

_He pulls away from the kiss, leaving me dazed and wanting. "By the Gods you are even more beautiful like this," he says, his voice a few octaves lower and almost scratchy with his need. "Cheeks flushed from passion__**.**__" His thumb slides across my cheeks in a small circle of movement. "Eyes hooded with lust and desire__**,**__" He kisses each one of my eyes in the gentlest of movements. "Lips swollen and red from our flesh being pressed together." His lips slid across mine in a soft, barely registered brush of skin. "Your bosom heaving, trying to get enough air, but not really caring because you are so overridden with passion." His fingers ghost around the outline of each breast in a slow languid movement. "Your entire body trembling with anticipation of what is to come." _

_Eric's hands slide down my face, over my throat, across my shoulders, clavicle, and sternum, down my ribcage, and finally settle at my waist. He never once looks away from me, while his hands embark on his journey of memorizing my form. I am completely hypnotized by his words and his actions, so loving and so perfect; no one has ever looked me in the eyes and told me how much I excited them and how beautiful I am to them. Not only does Eric do that, but he describes each and every thing he finds beautiful, this is why he is perfect for me. This passion, this fire, this loving attentive man, beneath the cool exterior, is why I can never and will never leave his side. _

_Without a word his fingers make quick work of completely unlacing one side of my corset, pulling the red silk ribbon free and dropping it to the floor. He pulls the beautiful corset away from my waist and it too hits the floor. My body trembles as the soft folds of satin drift around me, in a slow sensuous dance. _

_He smiles softly at me and kisses my forehead, that one simple act calming my frazzled nerves. 'Don't ask me why I was so nervous, it isn't like we haven't had some rocking sex over the last day, but for some reason it just seems different. I mean, shouldn't it be? When a man and woman come together for the first time as husband and wife, it should bring a whole new level of physicality that __is__ never there previously when you are just fooling around._'

_He pulls my dress up my body and over my head, for a moment I can see nothing but fabric and darkness, until I finally emerge from the darkness to see the shining eyes of my loving husband staring at my face. He drops my dress beside my corset and I have a temporary flash of irritation that he threw my wedding dress on the floor instead of draping it over a chair or hanging it up properly in the closet. As if he read my mine he smiles at me and whispers, "Later love, and if it wrinkled I will take it to be dry cleaned and pressed myself, I promise." He winks at me and I can feel my cheeks flush slightly with embarrassment from my very poorly timed irritation, but hell that is my WEDDING dress, it isn't like it's a pair of jeans or something._

_For the first time he breaks eye contact with me, scanning my body and moaning approvingly at my lingerie. Slowly that too is peeled away from my body, one item at a time, his touches never anything more than a brief caress or lingering squeeze here and there as he slides each item off of me. Nothing overly sexual, nothing I have ever would have considered as exciting, but there is just something about having your partner slowly undress you. I swear I thought I was going to melt into a big pile of Sookie soup right there in front of him at any moment. _

_The last stocking fell to the floor, to join the heap of my discarded clothing and for a moment he just knelt there in front of me. Staring up my body and into my face, his expression is one I have never seen before, but can only be described as one of adoration and awe. Gracefully he rises to his feet and lifts me from the floor, cradling my body against his still clothed form by my waist and walks me towards his bed, our bed, and setting me down on the edge, leaving my feet to dangle off the side._

_He stands between my knees, as he too slowly begins to shed his wedding garments, one article at a time. I want to watch his body slowly revel itself, but his loving look holds me captivated through the soft rustle of fabrics. "Gorgeous," I say in a breathy whisper after the last of his clothing disappears. He smiles at me again and I return it in kind; I can feel the happiness radiating off of me and at this moment I didn't care who sees it. _

_Grabbing my waist again, he slides me to the middle of the bed, propped up against the headboard so that I am still sitting up. This really confuses me for about a minute, until he turns and grabs a beautiful dagger from his bedside table. He takes me by the hand and pulls me to my knees, our bodies press against each other from thigh to chest. My arms slide around his waist, as I silently wait for what is to come next. He leans back slightly, sitting his weight onto his calves behind him and pulling me into his lap, so that I am in a slightly higher position. _

_One of his arms slides around my waist, gripping my butt firmly in his large palm. The other hand raises the golden dagger to a spot just at the bend of his neck, where his neck and shoulder meet, and slices a clean gash into the smooth perfection of his skin. My lips immediately seal around the wound, pulling the cool, syrupy blood into my mouth. The moment his blood hits my tongue, I hear the heavy thud of the dagger hitting the mattress and feel him move just enough so that his sharp fangs can slide into my throat, in the mirrored position of my own. Our jaws work at the exact same pace, pulling the life force of the other into ourselves and sealing the bond between us with the third exchange of blood. _

_Slowly I can feel emotions, not my own, mingling within me, there are so many and so vivid that they threaten__ed__ to overwhelm me. I cling tighter to Eric and I can feel one emotion in particular spike with this small movement, lust. His lust entices my own, and suddenly I am on the verge of orgasm. I want nothing more than to have him buried deep inside me as we continue to forge our bond. As if reading my mind, he lifts me up just enough to maneuver himself into position and impales me onto him. I moan loudly, never releasing the wound at his throat, and he does the same. I can feel the vibrations of his moan, sliding down my body and stirring my already frenzied libido, into a fevered pitch. _

_My hips rock a slow and steady rhythm, as we both climb the mountain to our release. Both of__us creating an endless loop of rocking, thrusting, pushing and pulling, into an endless cycle of sexual ecstasy, while we both continue to complete the loop by binding ourselves closer and closer to the other by taking the others blood. His fingers grip my hips tighter, and he bucks into me with more force. I gasp slightly, in a strangled moan of excitement. I maneuver my feet around, using my toes and the balls of my feet, creating more leverage to lift and slam myself down onto him, meeting him thrust for thrust. _

_I try to maintain control, holding off my completion as long as possible, I never want this moment to end and the only way for that to occur is to not let go. Eric's emotions tickle across me, coercing me silently to let go, to finish, to allow my ecstasy to envelope me, to envelope him, to let go of the control that I was so desperately clinging to. With a sharp thrust, I can't take it anymore, and I release his wound and throw my head back, screaming his name to the heavens as he continues to work my body through its completion and into his own. My name spills from his lips and I know he has reached his own, perfect moment, while my body continued to tremble, and quiver, and spasm around him. _

_Our bodies fall to the bed in a tangled mess of limps and hair, we hold onto each other for dear life, while we cool down from our passion. I close my eyes and just revel for a moment in Eric's emotions that swirl within me, as I try to sort out each one and identify its significance and place. When I stumble across smug pride at a job well done I burst into a roaring fit of laughter. Only a man would feel such a silly thing after such an emotional, loving exchange. I open my eyes and look over at him, his face twinkling with amusement. He shrugs slightly at me and says, "What can I say, it's good to know that I did my job right and gave you a mind blowing orgasm."_

_I laugh again and shake my head. "I love you Eric Northman."_

"_And I you, Sookie Northman." We spend the rest of the night showing each other just how much in love we are, worshiping each other's bodies, with teeth, tongues, and gentle caresses._

"My love you need to get your mind out of the gutter and get your pretty little ass into the shower, so that we can get ready for the night," Eric says startling me out of my reminiscing of last night's events.

"Yeah, yeah, stop your naggin'. You know I thought it was supposed to be the wife that nags**,**" I say as I slide off the bed brushing past him and kissing his cheek lightly.

"In my experience lover, women spend far too much time getting ready. If you start now, we might have time to make it to the plane before dawn." He smacks my rear lightly on my way past him and all I can do is let out a little humph of irritation.

I jump into the shower and try to rush through my routine. I would never tell him, but of course he is right. I take forever to get ready to go anywhere and I still had to pack, dress, do something with my hair, maybe a little makeup, hell it is a pain in the ass being a woman. If I ever went anywhere un-coifed I would never hear the end of it. Women are supposed to be perfectly pretty all the time. Heaven forbid we have a bad hair day, or don't match our shoes with our outfit perfectly. I have noticed that vampires are even more fashion forward than most humans. If you are going to go into a room full of vamps you don't want to go in looking like a country bumpkin.

I shave all my bits and bobs, quickly scrub myself down with the most delicious smelling body gel I have ever run across, wash and condition my hair, and am out of the shower in maybe fifteen minutes. Yay for me, I just set an all-new record.

I jump out of the shower and run a brush through my hair quickly, and start slapping on my makeup. "Eric," I holler into the empty space beyond the bathroom.

"Yes lover," he says winking at me from the doorway, with the cutest crooked little smile on his face. Damn, damn, damn, I wish we had more time.

I sigh heavily to myself, I am sure we could find time to get 'closer' at some point between here and Las Vegas. "We have to make a stop before we go to the airport."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I need to take you to the blacksmith that made my sword and our wedding sword**,**" I say, slightly exasperated as I stab myself in the eye, again, with my eyeliner pencil.

"Give me that," Eric huffs and walks towards me with his hand outstretched. I raise an eyebrow at him questioningly and he rolls his eyes snatching the eyeliner from my hand and lifting me onto the counter. "Close your eyes." I obey, holding my breath slightly and waiting for the pain to come from his attempt, but nothing happened, just a barely detectable brush of the pencil across my lids. "Now you were saying we need to stop at the blacksmith. Do you really think that it is necessary for us to go before our trip?"

"Normally I would say no, that we are in too much of a hurry, but I just have this feeling that we need to go there before we get on the plane. I know that the shop will still be there when we get back, I definitely know that your weapon will still be there when we get back, but I just have this feeling that we need to pick it up on the way. I have learned the hard way not to ignore those little inklings I get from time to time. So, I am trusting my gut; we need to go. Oh my goodness Eric," I say snapping open my eyes and he stops his machinations mid stroke, he had moved on from eyeliner and was applying eye shadow now.

"Are they going to let us get on the plane with Guinevere and Arthur?" I ask suddenly panicked that I wasn't going to be able to have my sword with me.

"Close your eyes so I can finish," he says softly, as he brushes my cheek with his thumb in a soothing manner. "Now who are you talking about, who is Guinevere and Arthur?"

"Our swords," I huff.

"Our swords are named, after the English King and his traitorous Queen?" he laughs lightly.

"Umm… from what our blacksmith said, Guinevere was forged long before the Arthurian legend was created. Arthur though was forged more recently from what he told me. So I would say no, they are not named after the legend, but what do I know, history tells of all kinds of similar sword in the stone type myths. I just know that our swords have names and their names are Guinevere and Arthur." I shrug. "Now back to the question, are they going to let us bring them on the plane? I don't think that I could handle them being in baggage or worse leaving them here."

Eric chuckles lightly**.** "Open your eyes and look up." I open my eyes and look up like he asked, but even looking up from sitting on the counter I still have a marvelous view of his beautiful face. He is just so blasted tall. He snickers slightly. "And your super short, now hold still so that I can put on your mascara. Now, our swords, I don't see why they would be a problem. We are taking the king's private jet there and he tends to frown on it when his guests are searched. The great thing about a private plane is the discretion that it includes. We don't even have to go to an airport; we just have to go to the airstrip outside of town, so we won't even have to pass through security of any kind and if you insist on stopping at the blacksmith on the way to the airstrip that is fine. Who am I to question your instincts?"

I sigh in relief. "Good, that is one thing off my mind." I sit in silence as he puts the finishing touches on my lips and cheeks as our conversation fast forwards through my head. "Wait… Eric… did you read my thoughts? I was thinking that you are so blasted tall and you responded out loud with 'and your super short'? What the heck?"

He shrugs. "There all done, maybe I was just reading your facial expression, I am not positive. I didn't really put much thought into it; I just knew what was going through your head. It wasn't like I heard the thought exactly, I just knew. I have never had a blood bond before, so maybe that has something to do with it. We will see if we can come across some information in the king's archives while we are visiting him. Maybe we will be able to find something that will let us know what to expect.

"The biggest issue we might have though, is that all of the vampires that I know who have ever talked about bonding with a human, have done so out of necessity, needing daytime protection, insuring loyalty, that sort of thing**.** I have never spoken to anyone who has done it because they love their human. Then we have to factor in the matter that you are not entirely human, which has the potential to… change things. It all depends a great deal on how much fae you have in your blood, what powers you have, so on and so forth. There are a lot of variables." He kisses my nose softly and lifts me off the counter spinning me around to face the mirror to see his handy work.

"Wow… just… wow. Where did you learn how to do this?" I ask, utterly stunned at the job he has done with my makeup. I look like a friggin supermodel that has just walked off a professional shoot.

"I did live through the 70's and 80's lover, glam rock was big then," he chuckles lightly at me. "Plus, there were other times throughout history where it was expected for men to wear makeup. Not to mention the fact that learning how to apply a good foundation and rouge was often necessary while vampires were still in hiding. Anything to help us blend in."

I snort**.** "Somehow I don't think any amount of makeup would help you blend in."

He laughs and shakes his head at me. "Well, you are right about that, I do tend to stand out, just a bit. Come on," he grabs my hand, "let's get you into something pretty."

I follow behind him as he tugs me out of the bathroom and into our bedroom; I can't help but giggle at his behavior. He is acting like a kid on Christmas morning, eyes glowing and body bouncing in excitement at what is to come. When we stop at the bed I realize why, there spread out nice and neat lay two, very beautiful, summer dresses. "I wanted to give you an option, and whichever one you don't want to wear I will pack away with all of your other dresses."

"You packed for me?" I ask, stunned slightly.

"Of course," he says as if it would be foolish to think he would do anything less. "You were busy, I had time, it was no hardship to put all of your dresses that Pam acquired for you into a garment bag and all your other tidbits into a suitcase. Anything you don't have we will buy for you in Vegas; I have heard Pam go on and on about the shopping there. We, you and I, could make a night of it, finding various boutiques on the strip. We are also going to need to get you some luggage of your own at some point, but I have plenty to spare at the moment. I didn't really have much that I needed to pack for this trip. Plus it helps that I have multiples of all of my luggage, just in case."

"You are too sweet, and too funny," I say and kiss his nose. I turn to the options that he has laid out for me and give them a critical eye. The first is a beautiful white cotton, floor length, sleeveless dress. It has a deep v cut and from the looks of it, the bodice would fit nice and snug beneath my bosom, while the rest of the dress would just flow out and down, nice and full without all of the extra under things to make it that way. It has a beautiful silver pattern of roses on the bodice and at the hem of the skirt, but otherwise it was just a plain white color, very airy and summery, but somehow it seems dressy as well. Next to the dress sit the cutest pair of matching sandals; they are silver in color, to match the design of the dress, but they have large ivory stones set into the top of the shoe. They are what is known as an Egyptian sandal, which is just a fancy way of saying a thong sandal with an ankle strap.

The second dress is just as nice as the first, except this one seems to be much more casual by design. It is a peasant style dress, which I absolutely love, in a beautiful turquoise color, well almost turquoise, I personally didn't think it had enough green in it to be considered turquoise, but Lord knows I am not an expert on color. Not to mention the fact that all those stupid fashion lines have 100 names for the color pink. I mean, okay, I dabbled a bit with painting after I got out of high school and I know that there are a ton of shades that come when you blend various amounts of white and red, but come on! Fifty different designers can have the exact same shade of pink in their summer collection and they will all call it a different thing. It is utterly retarded.

Ughh, rant over, back to my dress my precious Viking picked out for me. It has a peasant style bodice, sleeves that cover your shoulders and a v cut that shows just enough cleavage without being risqué. Just below the bust line and all the way down below the belly button, they do this great trick with elastic to make it look like you are wearing a cinch without actually having to deal with the uncomfortable bullshit that goes with it. The skirt flows out from about mid hip, and comes to a stop about half way down the calf. It is perfect. The shoes are just as good. They are a plain white leather, in the same Egyptian style as the other pair.

"They are both very beautiful," I say smiling up at Eric.

"Really you like them?" he asks, and if I didn't know any better I would have thought he was nervous that I wouldn't like them.

"Very much, but..."

"What? What's wrong, we can always return them for a different style, or maybe a different color."

"No, no nothing like that, it's just… don't you think it is a little presumptuous of you to be picking out my clothes?"

He barks with laughter. "No, not really. From what I understand, wives have been doing it for their husbands since the invention of marriage. Why can't the husbands do the same? Besides, if you think this is presumptuous you should see the twenty other dresses that I packed for our trip, not to mention, all of the matching shoes and plenty of bikinis with matching cover-ups." He wiggles his eyebrows at me suggestively.

"I take it you are one of those guys that likes a girl to wear a dress and not jeans?"

"Jeans have their place, I suppose, but there is just something about a woman in a dress that appeals to me. I am not saying you wouldn't look very lovely in a pair of jeans, I just think you look better in a dress."

I giggle. "And how would you know that mister, have you ever seen me in a pair of jeans?"

"Umm, no, and if I can help it I won't anytime in the near future."

I burst into a fit of laughter at that, "Well, I think I can persuade you to change your mind when you see my ass in a pair of properly fitting low rise jeans." I wink at him and his eyes twinkle with mischief. "I'll wear the peasant dress, go ahead and pack the other one." I shoo him with my hands and he grabs the other dress and zips into the closet, to pack it away with all the others I imagine.

I throw on my dress and shoes, and finish at the exact same moment that Eric comes pouring out of the closet with several garment bags and two large suite cases. "How long do you think we are going to be in Vegas Eric?" I giggle.

"Hmm, I don't know." He starts walking towards the stairs that leads out of the light tight rooms and into the rest of the house, which I have yet to check out fully. I am going to have to make a point of that when we get home. "I don't expect the king will keep us more than a few days, but I thought since we are there we can take a mini vacation, see the sights, plan our honeymoon."

"That does sound nice. I have to warn you though; every single time I leave Louisiana something horrible always happens. So if a building blows up or we end up standing knee deep in bodies don't say I didn't warn you."

"Consider me thoroughly warned." He chuckles as he sets our bags down in the dining room area.

I look up to see Pam, Stephan, Kaare, and Ivar all sitting around the dining room table joking, laughing**,** and sipping on their true bloods, like it is the most normal thing in the world. Well, I guess for them it is. The scary thing is, if I put a lot of thought into it, these are all my new in-laws. Well, except Pam, I wasn't really sure how Pam fit into the picture. I know that the guys all said that they were Eric's brothers, but Pam's part was unknown to me. I have a lot to learn about the man I had just married. "She is my child," Eric whispers into my ear.

"You just did it again," I say and slap his chest lightly.

"I suppose I did." He laughs and without another thought he turns to the others and says, "God kväll. Ska vi ha kul?" (Good evening. Are we having fun?)

"Of course brother, aren't we always." Kaare laughs, in his deep bass voice.

"It is about time you and mummy got your asses out of bed," Pam says, and I know she is joking, but her face is deadly serious.

"Oh NO!" I say. "There is no way, you are calling me mummy. Not gonna happen Pam."

"It's better than mistress, that is way more formal. If I can choose between the two I will call you mummy every time," she says and winks.

"And what's wrong with calling me Sookie?"

"Ask him, he makes me call him Master."

I look over my shoulder at Eric and he has a huge smile on his face. "And that is how it should be," he says.

"There is no way she is going to call me either one of those things and do you really make her call you Master? Come on Eric what century is this?" I raise an eyebrow at him and the whole room erupts into laughter.

"I let her call me Eric, once and awhile, mostly when it is just the two of us, never in public. As my wife, she has to address you formally too. Mummy isn't exactly formal, but I think we can get away with it, seeing how you aren't a vampire."

"Be serious Eric, she is ten times my age. There is no way she is calling me mummy."

"I am in the room you know. Man, now I know why humans are always whining about their parents." I snicker and throw a quick look over my shoulder at her. "Wait, Sookie, how old do you think I am?"

I shrug. "Two hundred and twenty five, including human years."

"How could you possibly know that?"

I shrug again. "I don't know. I didn't yesterday**.** Today I do, just like I know that Ivar is two hundred years older than Eric, Kaare is two hundred years younger than Eric, and Stephan is the baby at a whopping five hundred years old." They all just stare at me, a look of utter shock on their faces. "Hey, don't look at me like that, he," I say poking my finger in Eric's chest, "has been reading my mind all evening. But this is all beside the point; do you really have to call my mummy Pam?" I whined.

She bursts into laughter clutching her ribs**.** "Now I definitely have to call you mummy, just to see the annoyed look on your face when I do it."

My phone rings and I stick out my tongue at her in spite as I go to answer it. "Hello."

"Sookie?" I groan internally**.** Alcide, ugh. It isn't like he is a bad guy or anything, I just really don't want to deal with any of his drama. He never calls to just say "hey"; there is always something going on that requires my attention and talents.

"Yeah, one sec Alcide." I hit mute on my cell so he can't hear me. "It is the local pack master, I will make my excuses so that we can get out of here," I say to Eric.

"It is a cellphone lover, you can talk on the way." I roll my eyes at him. "Pam, Ivar, Kaare, Stephan, Sookie and I have a stop to make before we get underway to Vegas. Will you please be so kind as to take the luggage and meet us at the airstrip?"

"Of course," Stephan says, nodding his head at Eric.

"How long is this little errand going to take? It would not be the best idea to keep the king waiting," Kaare says.

"Hmm, no more than a half hour or so I think, but it doesn't matter. We are not on a tight schedule tonight, he just wants to meet us before dawn and it only takes about two hours to get there since we are flying straight there."

"Okay brother see you at the airport," Ivar says and they all stand up from the table and start to make their way out of the room. I figure now that vamp talk is over, I can get back to dealing with Alcide.

"Sorry about that, what's up?" I ask.

Pam of course decides to choose that moment to bounce over to me and kiss my cheek and say, "See you at the airport mummy. Don't talk to the wolf too long, you'll get fleas."

"Watch it," I mock growl at her, "or I will ground your little blonde butt the whole time we are in Vegas. No shopping, no gambling, and definitely no topless dancin' shows for you missy if you don't behave."

I giggle at her aghast expression**.** "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me." I stick out my tongue at her and she laughs and heads out into the garage. Eric starts zipping around the house, turning off lights and locking up and we also make our way out into the garage and I follow behind, only half paying attention as I turn back to my phone call. "So sorry, again. We are getting ready to leave and it is just chaos here."

"What was all that about?" he demands. "Who was that calling you mummy?"

"Uhh, if you must know it was Eric's child joking around with me. Now is there something I can do for you or is this just a friendly 'hey how you doing' phone call, because I really do have a ton of stuff to do." I pull the door closed on the car and look around a bit, noticing that we have gotten into Eric's Shelby instead of his Vette. I glare at him and he just gives me a wicked smile and winks.

"Well," Alcide huffs at me, "I am calling because I went to Merlotte's looking for you tonight and Sam said you weren't in and that he didn't know when you would be in. He told me you got married yesterday."

"Yep."

"Umm, who did you get married to Sook?"

"Not that it's any of your business Alcide Hervuex, but I got married to Eric Northman yesterday."

"THE NEW SHERIFF? WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU SOOKIE?"

"Nothing, and if you want to continue this conversation, I would suggest you correct your tone right this minute. I will not let you talk to me that way Alcide."

"Sookie, come on. You went off and married a vampire that I know for a fact you just met, and you expect me to be calm? Where are you going to live? Are you going to stay in Bon Temps or move to Shreveport? Are you going to keep your job at Merlotte's? If you aren't what are you going to do with your time? Do you even know anything about him? Why would you do something so stupid? After all the shit you have been through with the God damn vampires you would have thought you would have learned by now."

"Okay, I am going to work really hard here to stay very calm, because I know you think you know what is best for me and are worried because you are my friend. WE haven't talked about living arrangements yet, but I assumed that I would move out here with him. I don't know if I am keeping my job yet or not, but again, that is something I need to discuss with my HUSBAND! You are right we don't know each other all that well because we just met. But it is my life and I know that Eric is it for me. I don't have a single doubt about that. As far as me being stupid, hmm I think I am going to ignore that and pretend you have completely lost your cotton pickin' mind on that one, because you would have to be crazy to be so idiotic as to talk to me in such a manner.

"Hell Alcide, my own brother approves of this relationship, and that is saying something, considering he never liked Bill, he loathed Quinn, and you were never serious enough with me for him to form much of an opinion about. Sam even likes Eric; he walked me down the aisle and gave a speech at my reception, so really I don't need your approval where Eric is concerned. Now as far as all the bull shit I have been through with the vampires, do you really want to go there Alcide? I have been in just as many scraps with the two natured as I have the vamps, and they never dragged me into their shit on purpose. You on the other hand do. Every single time you call me it is always with an ulterior motive. Hell Alcide, when you had me go with you to Cornel Flood's funeral for moral support as your sort of girlfriend, mostly friend, it was all about your dad taking over as pack master. You didn't even really want me there, except to use my extras."

"That's not true Sook, I care a lot about you. It meant a lot to me that you where there for me. You checking out the competition was just a bonus. Besides the vamps are just as guilty of using your extras as I am."

"Umm yeah they are, but mostly they were always up front about it. Except for Bill, but he is just scum. Sophie always told me the truth and was up front with me about everything."

"I love you Sookie," he sniffled at me.

"Fuck, are you kidding me? Somehow I highly doubt it Alcide. The last time I saw you, well, I should say, the last time I saw you before I made Quinn into shish ka-kitty, you had to be restrained from ripping me apart limb from limb. And if you do really love me, it really sucks that you didn't figure that shit out sooner. Maybe, and that is a huge maybe, we could have tried to date, but somehow I doubt that it would have worked. You are as bad as Sam sometimes when it comes to dealing with your otherness. It doesn't really matter though Alcide, I have made my choice and I am married to Eric, whether you like it or not. And whether you think you are in love with me or not, is moot. It's done. Now is there anything else I can help you with this evening Alcide?" I say the last bit pouring on my southern charm. My Gran would shoot me if I were rude beyond reason, just because Alcide is being an asshole doesn't mean I can be a rude bitch and forget my manners.

"But what about a family Sook? What about kids, and going on picnics after church on Sunday mornings? What about making breakfast for your man and spending the whole DAY with him? All that normal stuff that normal couples do, he can't give you any of that Sookie. Fuck you can't even go to sleep and wake up together in the same fucking bed because in the morning there would be nothing left but ashes and dust. I can give you a normal life Sookie, we can be happy together."

I sigh heavily and try to remain as calm as possible. "I hate to say that you are right but you are in some respects. Yes, Eric can't give me children, but that doesn't mean we can't have them someday by other means. Not that we are going to do that, we haven't even discussed that yet. I don't know if I even want that anymore to be honest, because my life is just too crazy at times to consider bringing children into the mixture. But if we decide to do that, there are other means for us to have kids. Whatever happens with that though we will be doing it together.

"Going on picnics, making breakfast, spending the day together, well shit Alcide, Eric and I can still do all of those things, he is just sunshine challenged. We can go on picnics under a full moon. Our breakfast time can go from seven in the morning to seven in the evening. Spending time together? Well hell, our day is just reversed. As far as us falling asleep and waking up together, umm, we have done it the last three nights now, so I really don't think that is going to be a problem. As far as having a normal life, come on Alcide who are you kidding, neither one of us is normal. Even if we were together nothing could change that, you're not human and neither am I. You really need to move on from this idea, because nothing you say is going to make me change my mind.

"To be honest I am kind of done here Alcide. I really don't owe you any explanations, but I have let you rant and rave and try and convince me to leave my husband. I have done all of this and explained why I never will leave him, because I consider you to be a friend. But friendship only goes so far Alcide and right now you are walking a very thin line to me never speaking to you again. I suggest you take some time to figure out if you can just be happy for me so that we can continue to be friends, or if we should cut ties completely, including any professional interactions, because I will not and I repeat I WILL NOT put up with you bad mouthing my husband every time I see or talk with you. So yeah, that's it, that is all I got to say on this matter, and I will talk to you later. If you had anything important to talk to me about call me back tomorrow and we can discuss it then. Goodbye."

As I was clicking my cell shut I could hear Alcide trying to argue with me "But… Sookie… No… But…"

I fume silently, and try hard to calm myself. I force myself to take deep calming breaths. "Fucking asshole," I mutter under my breath.

Eric chuckles and I look up at him, and he slides his right hand over and grips my thigh. "I am proud of you, my wife. You handled that magnificently. I must admit, if that conversation would have taken place while he was in the same room as us I would not have been so silent."

I snort. "Of course you wouldn't have, because you're a big strong man, who has to prove whose cock is the biggest."

"Well, that is an easy one, it is mine by far, I am sure." He laughs and I just shake my head at him and join him. I am not gonna say he is probably right, I don't want to inflate is already over inflated ego anymore. **"**_**My ego is not over inflated! I will have you know that it is just the right size to fit in my body**__!_" he says indigently and my jaw drops.

"I did it again didn't I?" he asks sheepishly.

"Mmmhmm. You know, you are going to have to learn how to curb your responses. That is the thing about reading people's minds; sometimes people's private thoughts are just that, private. I would never tell you that you have an over inflated ego, but I could possibly think it from time to time. Most of the time people will think out everything they could or would say or do, before taking any kind of action, both good and bad. It doesn't mean that they actually feel a certain way. You of all people should already understand this; you are a strategist, and you have been around more than long enough to understand human behavior and why people do the things they do. It is why we have that saying 'actions speak louder than words' because people think and say all kinds of things, it doesn't mean they really mean them."

I notice for the first time that we have come to a stop at the mall and I slide out of the Shelby and into the parking area. Eric quickly joins me and grasps my hand in his. "I am sorry. I did not mean to upset you. I am not used to being able to hear the inner workings of someone's head, and it isn't even like I can hear them, I just know. I'm sorry."

I roll my eyes. "I'm not mad, not with you anyways, and we will figure out the whole mind reading but not thing. Come on the shop is down this way."


	12. Chapter 12

**Authors Notes:**

Hey howdy ho people. So most of you know that I was ubber sick not too long ago and this caused me to fall way behind in my work. So, this is why I am late. I am unsure if I am going to continue to do the update on Tuesday's. Perhaps I will get caught up this next week and then we can get back to our regularly scheduled program.

Everyone should send some love to my friggin' awesome Editor Catie Mak. Without her this story would not be as good as it is. She catches things that make me want to bang my head against the was because it is really small and stupid and I so know some of the things she catches, but that is what editors are for. They save the writer from looking to stupid. Hehe

Thank you all for your kind words over the last week. It means the world to me that you take the time out of your busy day and let me know how you feel. I appreciate and adore everyone of them. So when you reach the bottom of the chapter tell me how you feel, be it good bad or indifferent, I want to know.

Tons of love from the West Coast,

Lilli

**Chapter 12**

** Sookie's P.O.V. **

The tinkling of chimes greeted us as we enter the shop, I look over at Eric and his eyes are lit up like a kid in a candy store. He practically bounces from foot to foot, his line of sight never stopping for long on a single blade. I laugh lightly at his exuberant nature and he looks at me and says, "What?"

Before I can answer him the blacksmith comes through the back of the shop. "How can I… Princess Susannah," he says, and drops to one knee, again.

"What did I say the last time I was here? Get up man, for goodness sakes." I laugh and he joins me, and blushes slightly at my scolding. "I would like to introduce you to my husband, Eric this is," I stop midsentence racking my brain for a name, "well shoot, I am so good with names, why is it that I can't remember yours?"

"Probably because I forgot to tell you in all of the excitement Princess." He stuck out his hand to Eric and to my surprise Eric clasps it firmly, but not at hand like you would expect, no, Eric clasps him at the elbow. I know this is the sign of brotherhood and respect and it surprises me that Eric would make such a gesture.

"It is a pleasure to meet you sir, the blades here are truly works of art."

"Thank you, they call to me. I just do the best I can to bring them to life. I am Roland, by the way."

Eric gasps slightly; Roland had shifted from one foot to the other, which caused his hair to move just slightly and one of his pointed ears peaks through his graying hair. "You're a… how is it that I am even able to stand here with you?"

Roland smirks slightly. "Family secret." He winks. "It helps keep me and mine a little less dead." He laughs deeply, his belly shaking slightly. "If you wouldn't have spotted the ears you would never have known right?"

"Indeed." Eric nods.

"Yeah, I could go and have them altered, some of our race does that in order to 'fit in' with the humans, but I always felt like that was barbaric. I mean, you wouldn't go and cut off a limb or other appendages just to fit it. My ears are a part of me; they make me who I am. Why would I mutilate myself in order to fit in? It makes my blood run cold with just the thought of anyone doing such a thing to me. It is like asking me to cut off my manhood, it is just obscene."

Eric and Roland both shiver; no doubt they have images of their manhood's being separated from their body, dancing through their heads. I just shake my head and laugh slightly, and both of them whip their heads towards me; they must have forgotten that I am even in the room. Men.

"Sorry Princess." I roll my eyes; I don't think it would do him any good to be reminded, again, not to call me Princess. "Now," he claps his hands together and rubs them back and forth, "what is it that I can do for you?"

"You know what you can do, why don't you come stand here with me. Eric, take a walk around the shop and just check it out." Roland walks over and stands beside me, and Eric looks at me, clearly confused. "Just go on, look at the blades as if you were considering purchasing one."

"But I am not." That Eric, always so literal.

"Just try it, I want to see something." He nods at me and begins slowly walking around the shop. Of course he decides to start on the opposite wall from where Merlin sits. I hold my breath waiting, hoping that my suspicions are correct. I try hard, not to think, not to feel, not to do or say anything that could give away any thoughts that I may have about the waiting battle-axe. About half-way through Eric closes his eyes and sways a fraction of an inch, he spins around a huge smile on his face and strides across the room plucking Merlin off the wall. I am practically jumping up and down when he places the blade to his lips and kisses it reverently.

"Unbelievable," Roland says.

"You think that is crazy watch this," Eric says and points at the wall. "Lancelot," he says pointing to a Mace, "Gwain," he says pointing to a Katana, "Percivale, Lionell, Tristram, Gareth," he says as he points to four more swords hung on the wall. "Lucan, Palomedes, Lemorak, Kay, should I go on? There are about a dozen more. Plus I have this feeling that more are soon to be joining their ranks."

"I… I… I don't know what to say? How did you? I mean, how is that even possible?"

"Did it never occur to you that a good majority of your weapons have the Arthurian legend in common?" Eric asks.

"No, not really, I make so many blades, and other weapons, I…" Roland stops suddenly, his thoughts swept away on the tide of his confusion.

Eric's head snaps up towards the back of the shop. Without a word he grabs my hand and drags me towards the forge. "Eric, what are you…" before I can even finish getting my words out I run into his large frame when he stops suddenly in front of two dummies. There is one that is tiny and clearly womanly; the other is large and very male.

"Mordred and Morgana," he whispers, and I look up at him and then back to the two dummies. Draped across their fake bodies were two sets of beautiful matching armor. The male's breastplate was all a gold color, with the filigree all done in white platinum. The decorations were modest but distinct. I ran my fingers over the middle of the breast plate, tracing the lines of a ship, with a bear standing directly behind it, almost encompassing it in its large arms, and he looks as if he is standing watch, almost protective in nature over the Viking ship. I look back at Eric, hoping for some kind of indication as to what it meant. "My family crest," he says and smiles slightly at me. "I haven't seen it in a very long time."

I shake my head in disbelief and turn back towards the female's armor. It too is done in the gold and shining white like the other, but it is the opposite. The main body of the chest plate is done in the shimmering platinum, while all of the filigree was done in the bronzy gold. If you look at the breastplate head on you wouldn't notice the decoration right away. You have to move just right to see the slight glint of gold that starts low on the ribcage and works its way down to the waist. I run my fingers over the ridged surfaces and immediately know that it is meant to be feathers wrapped around the waist.

My fingers hum with the same energy that occurred when I picked up Guinevere for the first time. I slowly circle the armor, tracing the feathers to the back and realize that the feathers are actually wings, wrapped protectively around the body. At the base of the spine was a small, almost imperceptible shield and on top of the shield is a long spear. "The Valkyrie shield maidens were believed to carry a spear and a shield as they ushered fallen warriors into Valhalla," Eric says, and places his hands on my shoulders.

"What… what does this all mean Eric? I don't understand. Why all of the links with the Arthurian legends? Not to mention the fact that this is too weird. All of this is just crazy. We meet and barely a day later we get married. All the while we have to deal with my crazy ex, who is determined to kidnap me, for some odd reason, because he never gave a fuck before I don't understand why he wants me now. Not to mention the fact that I come in here, which I didn't plan by the way that was all Russell. While I am here I find not only our wedding sword, which Roland swears was made five years ago but has all of this Norse imagery and our initials engraved into it. But I also find a sword of my own that sings to my soul and begs me to wield it. Then she and our wedding sword are named after two of the greatest rulers of all times, in my opinion at least. I am just so… so…" I feel my chest tightening and a panic attack not far off. I know that if I don't calm down soon I am going to start hyperventilating, but I can't seem to stop myself.

Eric, bless him, snorts, and stops my miniature break down from progressing any further. "I get it love, but we aren't going to get any answers at the moment. We have a plane to catch, when we return I would suggest that we do a little research, perhaps sit down with Roland and talk about his journey with these swords. We also need to bring Pam, Ivar, Kaare, and Stephan in here, I have a sneaking suspicion that they have weapons up on that wall."

I let his words roll around in my brain for a moment and I have a few flashes of different faces float through my brain. "Amelia, Tray, Sam, Calvin, and my brother need to come in here as well."

Roland clears his throat from across the room and we both turn to him. "So does this mean that the armor is yours and your husband's Princess?"

"Yes Roland, it does. Do we need to come back, have it fitted or anything?"

"No, I am willing to bet dollars to diamonds that, that armor will fit you both perfectly. It is meant to be yours. I was actually shocked when I got the call for these two pieces during my meditation. I had never even attempted armor work before, so I tried to push it away, but the longer I waited the more persistent the call became. I had to make it or I would never have gotten a decent night's sleep." He chuckles lightly at his own joke.

"Roland, Sookie and I want to sit down with you and talk about all of this. There has been a lot going on with us and we are kind of unbalanced by the lack of answers that both of us have. Do you think you would be willing to talk with us?" Eric crosses his arms across his massive chest and looks down at Roland. I would imagine that most people would be intimidated by that look; Eric didn't really mean anything by it. He isn't trying to be intimidating or demanding, this is just how he is. He wants answers and he would not rest until he got them. Roland is the only place we have to start.

"Of course Eric."

"Good," Eric beamed at him. "We will call you when we return from Vegas and have you out to our home."

Roland and I both stare, gob smacked by Eric's gesture of trust; he just invited a stranger to his home, and not just any stranger, a fae stranger. What the hell? Eric looks over at me and just shrugs; I know he is just trying to let me know we could talk about it later, because he didn't really understand it either.

"I would be honored to join you and the Princess at your home. You need only call me when you return and we can set up a time."

"Marvelous," Eric says jovially. "Now we also have a few friends that we will be bringing by. Sookie and I both feel that they have weapons here and it would behoove us for them to have them sooner rather than later, I think."

"Of course, they can come in on their own or you can bring them, whatever is most convenient for you and the Princess. I am open very late and if you call I am willing to stay open even later for you. I assume that some of these people are vampires correct?"

"Indeed," Eric nods at him.

"Okay, again just call me when you return and we will set everything in motion."

"Excellent." Eric and Roland clasp arms again, in silent accord. I think I just witnessed my first fae/vamp peace treaty. We pay quickly and run back out to the car, and place our new goodies in the trunk, along side of Guinevere and Arthur.

Eric jumps in the driver's seat, turns the ignition, and revs the engine. A small groan escapes my lips at the purring vibration between my thighs, from the sheer power that is Eleanor. I look over at Eric, I know he did that shit on purpose and I try to glare at him through my lust induced haze.

He smirks a little at me and purrs. "Lover if I had time I would fuck you in every possible position and over every possible inch of this car, but unfortunately we are going to be late as it is. When we get home though, you just try and stop me from fulfilling those marvelous fantasies dancing around in that pretty little head of yours." He laughs darkly and squeals out of the parking lot and into the night; we are finally on our way to the airstrip and then we will be off to Vegas to meet the King. Lovely.

We speed through the streets of Shreveport, in awkward silence. Well, I am not sure if Eric is uncomfortable, but I know that I am. There is just so much going on. It all is a bit overwhelming. There are more questions than answers and I am so far outside of my comfort zone it isn't even funny.

Eric lightly squeezes my hand and says, "Lover, we will figure it all out together. I know it is all a bit overwhelming, and you are doing things that you would consider out of character, but we are in this together. I do not believe that we would be put together like this if we didn't truly need each other. I love you, you love me, and no matter what we have that simple truth to fall back on. Alright?"

I sigh heavily. "I know, it is just a lot to take in. I know I keep saying that, but it all just keeps piling up. There is more and more and more and just when I adjust to what is there, more gets thrown on top. I feel like the friggin' leaning tower of Pisa, and I am liable to topple over if I have to deal with one more thing."

"See that's what's good about us being a couple. You do not have to deal with everything by yourself anymore. You have me to hold you up and if I need a little extra help, we have Pam, and my brothers. It will all be fine, you just need to take a deep breath and try and remember that we are in this together."

Eric squeezes my hand again, and I do my best to follow his advice. He is right; I am not in this by myself anymore. "Well of course I am right, I am always right. I have over a thousand years practice; it would probably be easier if you just remember that as a general rule from now on. It will make for far fewer arguments and a lot less stress."

I giggle lightly. "You know that is really annoying. Now I understand why everyone avoids me like the plague."

Eric smirks at me and turns his car off the main highway and into the private airstrip. He parks his car outside of the hanger and we jump out, and grab our armor and weapons from the trunk and head towards the plane. We walk through the large double doors and I am astonished by the size of the plane waiting for us. This is no puddle jumper, like I had taken before on my flight from here to Dallas, this is a full on jet. I shake my head, crazy vampires and their silly showing off. I mean is it really necessary to own a plane like this.

Pam is sitting at the top of the stairs leading into the plane with a board expression on her face. "Mummy, Daddy what took you so long? We were supposed to leave forty five minutes ago." She smells the air as we draw closer and a wicked grin spreads on her face. "You don't even have the good excuse of letting your newlywed getting the best of you. The only sent that lingers is burnt metal and smoke. Were you in a burning building or something?"

I roll my eyes**.** "Do something with **your** child."

Eric laughs. "I have been trying for two hundred years now, I think she needs her Mummy to deal with her."

Pam's eyes sparkle with mischief and then she spots our armor. "Ohh, you got pretties," she says and claps her hands together excitedly.

I make my way to the top of the stairs and pat her head lightly. "Yes we did and if you are a good girl when we get home you will have some new pretty toys to play with as well. But you have to be on your best behavior young lady."

"Hmph you're no fun," she says and crosses her arms across her chest. "Can we take her back and exchange her for a different model?" she asks Eric.

He laughs and clears his throat; clearly he is trying to cover up his amusement at the playful banter that is going on between Pam and I. "No we cannot. Behave yourself and listen to mummy like a good little girl."

"Oh my goodness, I can't take this anymore, seriously ya'll are too much. Pam stop callin' me mummy." I laugh and walk past her into the plane.

The interior of the plane is fairly sizable, considering it's an airplane. Soft white suede couches line one side, while the other is a large bar area as well as the largest friggin' flat screen television I have ever seen in my life. Jason and Sam would be in hog heaven if they could just sit and stare at it, not to mention watch football on it.

Stephan, Ivar, and Kaare are already seated towards the back; I nod at them and flop down on a couch in the middle of the plane heavily. I hate flying; it isn't so much the actual being in the air part, I actually love looking out over the world and seeing the clouds below me. No what bothers me is the take off, and the landing, oh yeah and the fact that I can plummet to my inevitable death from thirty thousand feet. Eric sits next to me and chuckles lightly. "You can face 90 Weres and shifters and not even bat an eyelash, but you are terrified of flying?"

"Well," I huff angrily at him, "with the Weres and shifters I can actually do something about stopping my death, but if for some reason I was to fall out of an airplane I would be fucked. There would be nothing I could do to stop what was going to happen." He raises an eyebrow at me questioningly. "Well okay, let's just say that I fell out of the plane right?"

"Right," he laughs.

"Okay so, if I fell out of the plane at 30,000 feet it would take me roughly two minutes and forty seconds to hit the ground. Now, if I die in a skirmish, I will never see it coming, it will most probably be, bang, boom, I'm dead, end of discussion. But, if I fall out of a plane it will take me almost three minutes to hit the ground. That is a long time to be terrified and knowing what is coming. I could probably try and slow it down a little bit, but what good would that really do? My body will reach terminal velocity long before it hits the ground, so no matter what when I hit the ground I'm done, finito, sayonara, that's all folks."

They all start to chuckle lightly at my little rant, and I cross my arms over my chest in irritation. "Not all of us are indestructible you know."

"No, no, you're right lover you are very fragile, but the thing is your theory is a little moot when your travel companions are a bunch of vampires. If it was anyone besides the five of us they could just wrap themselves around you and take the entire blow from the landing, they might have a few broken bones, but it wouldn't end them."

"Unless they have the unfortunate circumstance of landing on a sharp pointy stick," Ivar chuckles.

"Yes, there is that very slim possibility." Eric laughs. "But that would never happen when you travel with any of us. There would be no danger to you or to us. We would be just fine." Eric shrugs.

"And what makes ya'll so special, Mr. High and Mighty?"

Kaare laughs loudly, clutching his ribs as if he is having difficulty breathing, which only infuriates me more. I hate when people laugh at my expense. "Didn't he tell you?" he asks.

"Tell me what?" I huff.

"Seriously," Pam says and glares at Eric. "Umm Mummy," she flops in front of my and grasps my hands in hers, "we all can fly."

"Bullshit!" I exclaim. "Now I know ya'll are trying to pull one over on me."

"No really," Stephan says. "See?" He floats off his seat about a foot and a half, his head lightly bumping the roof of the plane.

"Fuck! Unbelievable, I married into a family of superheroes."

Before I can even bat an eye, all of them, all five of those goofy ass vampires with dead serious looks on their faces, jump to their feet, place their hands on their hips, spread their feet slightly, and sing, "Here I come to save the day!"

I cannot believe their antics. I bust up laughing, clutching my ribs tightly and double over. My lungs feel like they are going to burst from my chest and I am afraid I might have peed myself just a little bit, but it is totally worth it. "Oh… my… God…" I gasp out between fits of laughter. "Are ya'll always this fun?"

Eric shrugs. "It got you through take off without you even realizing it. Plus it is good to laugh once and awhile, even if it is at yourself. But, you are right in assuming that few ever see any of us behave this way. Since you are my wife you can't testify against me, therefore none of our antics will ever be able to pass your lips."

He kisses me lightly, and I make a motion over my heart. "Cross my heart, I will never tell a soul, your secret goofiness is safe with me."

"Oh this is nothing," Pam says.

"What do you mean?" I ask

"Pam," Eric says in a warning tone.

"What?" She glares at him and turns back to me. "When the five of us get together we are unholy terrors. Those four," she says and points to the guys, "are always trying to one up each other, and they always end up in the craziest situations."

I raise an eyebrow at her, extremely intrigued. "Pam I swear don't you dare, I will pull the maker card if I have to. Sookie doesn't want nor need to hear any of our antics."

Pam huffs slightly. "Come on."

"Actually I am really interested to hear what she has to say." I smile mischievously and look at Pam.

Pam opens her mouth but Eric cuts her off, "Don't do it if you know what's good for you." She sticks her tongue out at him and I swear she whispers 'spoil sport' under her breath.

"Ahh brother you cannot threaten us with gag orders," Ivar says and waggles his eyebrows at me.

"There was this one time in Prague, at least I think it was Prague, where Eric was caught quite unaware by about 15 vampires in a very compromising position, you should have seen him running through the streets mocking them as naked as the day he was born. Hilarity," Kaare says and chuckles.

"No wait, what about that time in the 60's where Eric got a hold of that gal who was high on mushrooms and ended up in the woods talking with the trees for hours." Stephan roars with laughter. "I swear Sook you should have seen him, it was hilarious."

I start to giggle. "Wait, ya'll can get high?"

Eric groans, "Ugh yes. If you're drunk, we get drunk, if your high we can get high. It all varies on the drug the person is using, how long they have been using for, and so on. It isn't so bad when you know it is going to hit you, but the girl that I fed from didn't even appear to be intoxicated." He rolls his eyes. "It was horrible Sookie," he sniffles slightly in mock angst. "I think I actually slept in the dirt that night."

Ivar says, "Yeah, and you were picking dirt, rocks, and sticks out of your crevices for weeks."

I snicker slightly. "Okay Pam hit me with your best shot." I wink at her.

"Goody," she claps her hands clearly excited at getting her turn. "Eric loves to do Karaoke."

"No way," I say in disbelief.

"Oh yeah, and he is very competitive too. There was this huge contest in New York one year, I think it was late 80's right?" She looks around the plane and everyone nods, Eric groans and shakes his head in agreement.

"So, there was this huge contest happening, and some dumbass blood bag from another Karaoke bar had told Eric he didn't have the guts to compete in this competition against him. Of course my daddy couldn't stand for that and immediately agreed to do the contest without finding out all of the pertinent facts first." Pam leans forward slightly. "Well, this bar wasn't just any bar; it was a trans gender/gay bar. All of the contestants had to come dressed in drag that night and do their best female impersonation."

"Oh oh who did he go as?" I ask Pam and then turn to Eric bouncing in my seat. "Who did you go as honey?"

"Oh please don't tell her." Eric practically begs them.

"CHER!" they all holler loudly and I burst into laughter.

"NO WAY!"

"Oh my God Sook, you should have seen it. You remember that video Cher did where she is wearing nothing more than a sling and a smile? I think it was for the _If I Could Turn Back Time_ video."

"Yeah it was that one," I say and could see Cher prancing around on the Navy ship in her black sling swimsuit fishnet thing. "Wait, you didn't?" I gasp and look over at Eric.

"Oh he did, but our Eric wasn't just going to go in with a plain black number, oh no, he spent a week sewing up a magenta, sequenced sling suite, and wore thigh high magenta boots with matching fishnets and a black, curly wig. Oh, oh, oh and he sang that song of hers _Just Like Jesse James_, it was great. He strutted his stuff all up and down that stage and had all the boys swooning."

"You're pulling my leg," I giggle.

"Unfortunately she isn't lover." He groans. "But I beat that asshole and won the competition if that is any consolation to you?"

"Are the five of you always together?" I ask.

"For the most part," Ivar says.

"Once and awhile we all take space from each other to do various things, but for most of our lives we have all been together," Stephan says a handsome smile on his face.

"I think this is the first time in almost two hundred years that we have been apart. Our last separation was just after Pam was made, and we wanted to give the two of them time to bond," Kaare says.

Pam snorts. "What are you old farts complaining about? You were only gone for like six months and then you came right back. You didn't even leave when Jim was made. You all are like a bunch of gossiping old ladies and none of you can stand being away from the others for more than a month."

"Don't you start Pam; you are just as bad as the rest of us." Eric laughs and Pam huffs slightly and crosses her arms across her chest.

"I am not," she whines.

"So, can I ask, if ya'll are such a tight knit group how come Jim doesn't stay with you?"

A sudden flash of sadness crosses Eric's face. "I wasn't even supposed to bring Jim over, we were all banned from turning celebrities just for the sake of them being who they are. I knew I wasn't supposed to turn him, but I just had to. We had all been kind of following him from city to city for a long time, even after he went into seclusion in Paris."

"Ya'll were groupies?" I snort in amusement.

"We most certainly were not!"

"Okay what would you call a group of dedicated fans who follows a band from city to city." I raise an eyebrow at him amused.

"Ughh a groupie," he narrows his eyes at me. "Do you want to hear this story or not?"

"Sorry, sorry," I say and raise my hands in surrender.

"Now, as I was saying," he clears his throat slightly, "the five of us were following Jim around, of course Jim spotted us just a few weeks after we had started following him. He just knew there was something more to us, although he never asked, and he never pulled away from us. We would all sit around for hours talking until we could barely make it back to our various resting places at dawn. It really was amazing. He is so talented, and smart, way smarter than most critics have given him credit for. They always paint him to be the stupid California druggy, which he may have been from California, and he may have had an issue with drugs, but he was anything but stupid. He was completely misunderstood, then and even still is to this day."

Eric sighs slightly, and Ivar clears his throat taking up the story because Eric is clearly having a hard time continuing. "We all were very close and it was very hard to watch Jim drink so heavily and become deeper and deeper sucked into drugs. We all felt very powerless to stop his self-destructive spiral, Jim… well he struggled with being so famous. He struggled with being both loved and loathed all at the same time. He was really just a philosopher poet trying to share his gift with everyone. It was never about the music or the money that was the idiot goons he performed with thing. All he wanted was to spread a little bit of his gift around and have people stop and think about what he had to say."

"Like Kurt Cobain," I say sadly.

"Yeah," Pam says softly, "we knew what was going to happen with Kurt and tried to warn him. He had more problems than Jim did though. Kurt was actually unstable, and that bitch of a wife didn't help matters any."

I so wanted to dish about Cobain, but right now was about Jim, so I redirected the conversation back to him. "So, what happened with Jim?"

Eric picks the story up. "We convinced him that he needed to take a break. His relationship with his girl was almost non-existent, his career was almost shot with his drunken performances, and his band mates were trying to replace him as front man. They hadn't done it yet though because they knew without Jim they were nothing. He was The Doors and he was the soul of that band, no one could ever replace him, although those fucktards kept trying. Anyway one night we had all gotten together and confronted him about how out of control his life was. We told him how worried we all were, that he was going end up like Janis or Jimmy. We convinced him that a nice sabbatical in Paris would be perfect for him. He could get away from the gawking fans, have a little peace and quiet, work on his poetry and philosophy, maybe do a little music if he felt up to it, but most importantly get sober. Surprisingly he agreed, without much of a fight."

Eric fell silent again, and I could see time weighing heavily on his shoulders, all the horrors he had witnessed being brought to the forefront of his mind, and the things that happened with Jim still haunt him terribly. "We all thought he was fine, we were there a few weeks, none of us saw him drinking or using when we were around him. We didn't have a clue. One night, I arose and found a note, on the outside of our underground space. Jim had decided to kill himself. He said he just couldn't take it. I rushed through the house and found him in the tub, I watched him take his last breath as I cleared the door and his heart was just about to stop. I didn't even think about it, I just did what I had to in order to save my friend. It wasn't until Ivar and Kaare found me cradling him on the bathroom floor that I realized what I had done."

"So, I posed the scene, making it look like he had indeed died of an overdose in the tub. Pam called the police, and they came and took his body to the morgue. We followed behind and glamoured the mortician to swap Jim's body with another's and then took him. We had to keep his being turned quiet from everyone else. Many vampires knew that we traveled with him, and if something went wrong we would be the first that they would come looking for. So we fled into the country side and waited for him to rise," Eric says.

"Worse three days of my life," Ivar snorts.

"Agreed," Stephan says. "Not only did we lose our friend, but we were faced with the knowledge that if something went wrong in transition we would have to give him his final death with our own hands."

"On top of that we knew that even if Jim made the cross over just fine, we would still have to go before The Council and face up to what occurred, and possibly be put to death ourselves for disobeying our laws. And still face the possibility that our friend would not be saved if they decided to just end Jim because of who he is." Kaare says.

Pam decides to jump in and says, "Not to mention we also would have to deal with a very irate Jim who was cheated out of meeting his death because of Eric's grief and lack of thought."

"I never wanted to do that to anyone, take away their right to choose this life that I live. I gave Pam the option when I turned her and I will give any other person that I may choose to turn in the future the chance to say no. The four of us," Eric says pointing at the guys, "were not given a choice by our maker. Appius saw what he wanted and took it, with no regard to what we wanted. I am not complaining, I love my life, but I never wanted to do that to anyone else. Jim, well to be perfectly frank, I fucked up. He was my brother and I didn't want to lose him because of the stupidity of other humans. A lot of what he went through all had to do with the pressures that others placed on his shoulders and his inability to cope with them."

Eric shrugs. "So we waited, three very long nights we waited for him to rise. Fortunately he rose perfect, he had been sober beforehand long enough that most of the narcotics and alcohol was out of his system. So thank the Gods for small miracles there."

"Was he mad?" I whisper, afraid to know about the fall out that might have occurred after Jim rose. Sure they seemed to be all peaches and sunshine now, but I could just imagine what they could have been like then. I know if I was in Jim's position I would have not been a very happy camper.

"Oh yes," Eric smirks. "I haven't heard so much profanity used ever, not before that and not since then. He was very angry, and he swore he would never speak to me again. Fortunately, Ivar, Stephan, Kaare, and Pam managed to calm him. He did forgive me eventually, but our relationship was very strained for a very long time. Jim was smart enough to know that we all had to be on the same page when we went before the council. Thankfully they were not as angry as they could have been, I think mostly due to the fact that Jim was so normal, and none of us had ever been in any kind of trouble before.

"Part of Jim's requirements though is that he cannot live here in the states and he cannot get anywhere near Paris. He has to wear disguises whenever he does go out in public and he cannot speak English at all unless he is around other vamps. That might all change now that we are out, but I don't think Jim will ever want to out himself to the public. He loves his life in Europe and I think he is truly happy there. It is hard for us to be separated from him, but he has always been a very solitary creature, even before he was turned.

"We try to spend as much time with him as possible though. We were all living over there together before I was offered the position as sheriff here. The rest as they say is history."

"Pfftt," Pam says. "When de Castro called you went on for weeks about how conflicted you were about coming to America. You knew you needed to be here, but you didn't want to leave Jim. We hadn't been back together in awhile and you never wanted to be drawn into the politics. You should have seen him mummy, ranting and raving about how he felt like he had no choice, he had to take the job, and whining like a little baby at the unfairness of it."

"Aww sweetie," I say and crawl into his lap, "you poor thing. You got a wife out of coming here though that has to be good for something." I wink at him, and try to lighten the mood. Eric and Jim's story was extremely sad, and I didn't want that to set the tone for our entire trip. Lord knows I have enough issues when I travel, and adding five morose vampires on top of my horrible luck would not be a good thing.

"I was not throwing a tantrum," Eric pouts slightly.

A wicked smile curves onto my face and I nibble his bottom lip and kiss my way to his earlobe, I bite and lick at the edge of his ear softly and whisper. "You poor _baby,_ so put upon and teased relentlessly."

"That's it woman." He laughs and jumps up from our seat; he throws me over his shoulder and slaps my ass. "I am no baby!"

"Eric!" I squeal. "You put me down right this minute." I slap his back and what I could reach of his ass and try anything I could possibly think of for him to set me down.

"No!" he laughs.

"Aren't you guys gonna help me?" I yell at Kaare, Ivar, Stephan, and Pam. They all chuckle and I watch as they get further and further away from me.

"Sure I'll help," Ivar says. "Don't break her brother, we are all quite found of her."

I gasp in disbelief and Eric just chuckles and bounces me on his shoulder slightly. "I… what… how… un-fricking-believable. You just wait and see if I ever help any of you assholes!" I exclaim, and echoes of their laughter fill my ears as Eric slams the door to the bathroom behind us.

He sets me on my feet facing the large mirror above the sink. The first thing I notice glancing quickly around the space is that it is friggin huge. It is almost as big as my bathroom at the farmhouse, and is far bigger than any airplane bathroom I had ever seen before. It is all sleek lines, rounded edges and stainless steel that is polished to a mirror like shine. Everywhere I look I can see Eric and I reflected back at us and standing staring in the mirror I feel like I am surrounded by hundreds of little Erics weighing me heavily down with lust.

Eric takes a step closer to me, and I can feel the waves of desire rolling off of him and pulling me under like a rip tide. My body quivers with anticipation, knowing instinctually what is to come. He grabs the edges of my dress and slowly pulls it up and over my head, never once touching my skin. I never take my eyes off of him, watching him pull my clothes off in the mirror is turning into an erotic experience that I had never before encountered. Yes, I have had sex tons of times, and I have even had sex where there was a mirror present, twice recently with Eric, but I never have watched the experience unfold myself.

I could feel myself becoming excited; more excited than if we had spent the last three hours just making out. It is amazing! I have never felt such passion before. I half expect Eric to smirk at me, I know he knows that my body is screaming for him to take it, but there is no smirk, just a look of determination as if he has something to prove.

He snaps his fingers between my shoulder blades and my bra just falls away. Once again, he didn't touch my skin; he managed to remove my clothing without being handsy. The lack of physical contact is driving me up the fricken wall. He runs his hands over the contours of my body, never quiet touching, but skimming over me just enough that I feel the breath of air movement around me. My skin flushes and my body feels like it is on fire with every non-caress.

I whimper in frustration. "What's the matter lover?" he asks in a husky voice that only serves to stoke the flames of my desire further.

"Please Eric," I beg; I am not ashamed to admit that I want him.

He raises an eyebrow at me. "Could a baby make you feel this way without ever laying a single finger on you?"

"No," I whisper.

He continues his onslaught of touching yet not and I whimper again in frustration. "What do you want lover? Do you want me to touch you? Do you want me to taste you? Do you want me to play with you? Do you want me to fuck you?"

"God yes." My knees tremble, threatening to buckle beneath me from the built up anticipation.

"How do you want me to touch you lover?" he whispers and leans his mouth a hair's breath away from my ear. I can feel his cool breath flicking along the edge of my ear and a shiver travels down my spine and goose bumps pop up all over my arms in response.

"Do you want me to run my tongue along your creamy skin?"

"Yes," I say, closing my eyes and envisioning he is doing just that. I could almost feel his cool tongue running along my fevered flesh.

"Do you want me to suck your tender flesh into my mouth and roll it around like a fine wine? Do you want me to nibble and bite every inch of your body, until you beg for me to stop?"

I begin to pant and moan lightly at the imaginary sensations spinning in my mind. I notice that the air has stopped stirring around me and he has gone silent. Apparently I am somehow supposed to form coherent thoughts beyond pleasure. I whimper and shake my head in the affirmative and I can hear him chuckle lightly at my lack of verbal response.

"Do you want me to caress, twist, and nibble those luscious breasts of yours to the point where you are so on edge all it would take is one tiny nudge to push you over?"

"Oh, please, please, please," I beg. I am dying for release and he hasn't even touched me yet.

"Do you want me to bite my way down your body, biting just hard enough to leave marks, but not draw blood? Do you want me to nibble on your thighs bringing you even closer to release? Do you want me to slide my cool… wet… tongue through your soaking wet folds? Do you want me to slide my fingers into you slick opening, curving them slightly so they hit just the right spot? Do you want to make you cum on my fingers and in my mouth Sookie?"

My entire body shakes and I stumble backwards and lean my weight against Eric's cool flesh. His arm snakes its way around my waist pulling me tightly against him. "Oh God yes Eric, I want that all of that."

"Are you wet for me lover, is your body dripping with lust and you know that only I can satisfy it?"

"Yes, please Eric I want you, I need you please, I need you to make me cum, I don't think I can take any more."

"So don't, cum for me Sookie cum for me right now." The moment his demand leaves his lips and reaches my brain my body explodes in orgasm.

"Fuck!" I scream, gripping his arm tightly. I feel like I am adrift in a stormy sea and the only thing keeping me in place is Eric's tight grip on my body. I slowly open my eyes, and see Eric staring at my reflection in the mirror. "Jesus Eric, how the hell did you do that?"

He growls at me and says, "Would a baby be able to make you cum without ever laying a single finger on you?"

"No," I shake my head empathically.

He bends me forward, my fevered body brushing across the cool metal and adding to my already heightened awareness of touch. He rips my panties from my body in one smooth movement and I moan loudly in response. My entire body tightens in anticipation, knowing what is about to come next, and I already feel like I am on the edge. My eyelids slip closed and I bite my bottom lip preparing myself.

"No," he slaps my ass firmly and I yelp at the suddenness of it. A hot, pleasurable burn spreads across me. "Open your eyes and watch me fuck you."

My eyes snap open and the moment they do he shoves into me roughly and I scream in pleasure. He pounds into me hard and fast, drawing gasping moans from me with every thrust, as he slams into me over and over. "Oh God Eric!" I scream. "I am gonna…" and with another thrust and twist of his hips I fly over the edge, trying desperately to pull a good breath, but all I can get is small little gasps of air.

I think for sure he is done, his point having been proven and our lusts satisfied, but I am wrong. He pulls out of me and spins me around so that I am facing him. He turns us so that he is leaned slightly against the counter and he lifts me wrapping my legs around his waist and pushes his way into me again. "Trust me," he whispers against my heated flesh and I nod in agreement.

He moves my upper body backwards, bending me so I am almost doing a handstand, once he has me in the weirdest position ever he slowly begins to rock his hips again and I instantly feel my orgasm building to a fever pitch. The weird angle was divine and had him hitting all the right spots. "Ughh Jesus Eric," I moan.

"So good, so fucking good," he groans in response, continuing he slow, steady thrusts. "Who do you belong to Sookie?" he says and grips my hips tighter, and bucks slightly at the end of each thrust.

"You," I gasp.

"Ugh, who owns this pussy Sookie?" He thrusts again and bucks and twists at the end.

I gasp again and moan. "Oh god Eric you, always you."

"Fuck, cum for me Sook, cum for me right now." He thrusts once, twice, three times and that is all she wrote, I clench around him and explode, and at the same moment I feel his body pulse within me, which only causes me to clench even harder around him, my excitement, and enjoyment amplified exponentially by the idea that he is reaching his own conclusion at the exact same moment as me.

He pulls me up from my backbend and slowly pulls out of me and sets me on my feet. I slump slightly against him, willing my heartbeat to slow and my breath to even out. "Do you think they heard us?" I gasp breathlessly into Eric's chest.

"I think people in New York heard you lover, _but if my family knows what is good for them they will keep their mouths shut and not embarrass you._" He raises his voice just a tiny bit on the last half of that sentence; clearly he wants to make sure that he gets his point across. The airplane suddenly rocks slightly and I fall forward, putting even more of my weight on Eric. "Are you alright lover?"

"Yeah I'm fine." The plane rocks again, this time Eric had me firmly grasped in his arms so I didn't stumble. "Eric, something is wrong."

"Sookie I am sure that everything is fine, we probably just hit some turbulence or something. The plane isn't going to crash and even if it does start to go down, remember you have five superhero Vampires to fly you to safety," he says in a condescending tone.

I want to slap the hell out of him for speaking to me that way. "I do not think we are going to crash!" I hiss between my teeth.

"Then what could possibly be wrong lover?"

I pull from his grasp and start throwing my dress, bra, and sandals back on as quickly as I can, unfortunately I am sans underpants, but I would just have to deal, you can't win 'em all. "You said it takes two hours to get from Shreveport to Vegas if we fly straight there, right?"

"Yes lover." He says in that same condescending tone and I take a deep breath as I try to put a lid on my anger.

"Then perhaps you can tell me why we are landing almost an hour early hmm?"

He closes his eyes and listens to the sounds of the plane, after a long moment his eyes snap open and he says, "Shit!"

"Exactly. I will forgive you for being such an ass, but only because we don't have time to fight about it now. Get your clothes on!" I throw open the door to the bathroom and stride back towards the others as quick as my feet will go without out bursting into a full on run.

"Mummy, I thought he broke you, it is good to see that you are able to walk after your little interlude," Pam says with a huge smile on her face, but I was beyond joking at the moment. I am in full on warrior mode.

"Not now Pam. Stephan, see if you can get into the cockpit to figure out why we are landing an hour early. Ivar see if you can figure out where it is we are landing exactly, turn on your phone, use GPS, I don't care just figure out where we are. Pam, get your ass over here and help me into this armor, I haven't ever worn it before and I have any clue what the hell I am doing. Kaare please tell me ya'll brought weapons with you and that they are stashed somewhere nearby?"

All the vamps just stare at me a moment shocked at my sudden abruptness and then they all burst into action. Stephan runs off to the cockpit, and I can hear him banging on the door demanding to be let in immediately. Pam jumps up and grabs my armor, slipping it over my head and working on the various buckles and latches to secure it into place. Ivar whips out a laptop and pounds away furiously on his keys trying to figure out our exact location. "Sookie, we do have weapons, but they are all in storage underneath the plane," Kaare says.

"Can you get to them?"

"Yes, it might take some time though, I don't want to breech the hull, depressurizing the plane would not be a good thing."

"Hop to it, nearest I can figure you have maybe thirteen minutes before we touchdown and we need those weapons. Eric," I look over and see my husband fastening his own armor into place and I take one moment to smile at him. I have a sudden warmth of glee wash over me, I didn't have to do this alone, I wasn't alone. I have a family to stand by my side to fight with me, and I have a husband who loves me more than anything and is willing to die by my side if necessary. And it helped he was fucking sexy as hell in that armor.

"Yes lover?" He smirks, raising an eyebrow at me. God if we only had time I would lick that eyebrow and show it who's boss. He chuckles lightly at me, clearly having picked up on my train of thought.

I shake my head and force myself back on track. "Right, sorry, call de Castro. Let him know that we are landing early under mysterious circumstances." I look over at Ivar. "Do we know where we are yet?"

"New Mexico. Just outside of Albuquerque as far as I can tell. Does that mean anything to you?" Ivar asks.

"No, not really it could just be that this was a good place to intercept us in our flight path. Okay," I turn back to Eric "tell him that we are landing in Albuquerque. We don't know who has taken over our flight yet and we will get back to him with further details after the dust settles. He needs to call Niall and Claudine to let them know what is going on, just in case."

"In case of what lover?" He narrows his eyes at me.

"I don't know Eric. You all are killed and I am taken, or you all are knocked out and I am taken, or I get myself killed this time and we want to prevent a war simply by letting them know what is going on. I don't know Eric there are too many variables to list. Just do it please."

He walks towards the back of the plane, clearly displeased with my orders, but is following them anyways, thank God. "All done, you might be a bit uncomfortable because we don't have any proper padding underneath the breastplate, but it will work." Pam says patting my shoulder lightly.

I grab Guinevere off the floor and she instantly hums to life. "Yep sweetie, it is looking like we have a big fight ahead of us. You up for it?" She vibrates happily in my hand, letting me know she is more than ready. I stretch a little in the armor, testing my range of motion, and how much it weighs me down. Surprisingly, it hardly affects me at all, it is made of some of the lightest material I have ever come across and I just hope that it does its job. "Amazing. Thanks for the help Pam."

"Of course Sookie," she says solemnly. Fricken melancholy vampires, you would think I told her she couldn't have her favorite toy anymore with the way she is acting.

Fortunately Kaare choose this moment to come back into the room, his arms loaded down with weapons. He starts handing them out to everyone just as Stephan comes back in as well. "I can't get in Sookie. Ever since we came out of the coffin and the terrorist attacks they have made those doors damn near indestructible."

"Of course, it's all right Stephan, grab a weapon and get ready." I turn to Eric who has also rejoined us. "So Stephan can't get in to the cockpit to stop the landing and I can't get a good read on them for some reason. They aren't two natured and I know they aren't fae; it is kind of like when I encountered the security guards in Rhodes, it is like they are wearing a helmet over their thoughts that I just can't get through. So I have no idea what we are facing. I will know once we land, maybe before. De Castro have any pearls of wisdom he wished to impart?"

"Not to get ourselves killed," Eric says and smirks.

"Yeah, I will see what I can do about that." I turn back to all the other vamps and see them all standing in various fighting positions. "Okay, we have two minutes ya'll everyone get ready."

Eric slides behind me, curling his arms around my waist and squeezing me tight. I'm not sure if he is trying to keep me from falling on my ass when the plane lands or if he is trying to seek a bit of comfort before the battle, but either way, it is nice and I can feel my nerves calm and my head clear. I am focused on the task at hand. I will succeed damn it. "I love you," he whispers into my hair.

"I love you too," I whisper back and close my eyes concentrating on the approaching ground, sifting through the area and trying to determine the threat. The wheels squeal and skid as they touch down on the tarmac, the engines slowly winding down from being pushed into flight. We slide closer and closer to our final destination and I can feel them.

I hiss between my teeth. "Seventy five fucking vampires are waiting on for us." Growls erupt all around me; none of the others are too pleased with those odds. I suddenly get a wave, a spark of thought and I can't believe it. "FUCKING BASTARD! I AM GONNA FUCKING KILL HIM!"

"What is it lover, what's wrong, who are you going to kill?"

"I should make a small correction," I growl menacingly. "Seventy five vamps and one fucking soon to be dead werewolf."


	13. Chapter 13

**Authors Notes:** Okay all a couple of things. I couldn't hold back this chapter. It is really short, but it is a really big moment. So, ya'll get a chapter a little early. Just for this story though and not for my other story Shadows of Doubt, (go check it out if you haven't already). My Editor Catie thought that it was important for ya'll to get this chapter early, so ya'll should send Catie love for persuading me to give it to ya.

I am going to be stight with ya'll and tell ya that I am not sure when I am going to be releasing the next chapter for both of my stories. Send me some good ju ju people because my brain is blocked. It isn't that I don't know what is going to happen it is that I am having issues writing it.

Also I am going to have a bit of a fan girl moment here so please excuse me. TRUE BLOOD STARTS IN SIX COUNT THEM SIX DAYS YAYYYYYY! Ahem, sorry. Whew glad that is over with.

As always thanks to everyone who took the time to review my story, your kind words always mean a lot to me and I always love hearing what any of you have to say. Be it good, bad, or indifferent. Oh and just a little p.s. here don't kill me for the way this chapter ends. *laughs evilly*

Tons of love from the west coast,

Lilli

**Chapter 13**

"Werewolf, what fucking werewolf Sookie?" Eric growls next to me.

I look over at him, ready to enlighten my husband and our family when I hear the vamps breaking down the door of the plane. I lower my voice as much as possible, and allow my voice to become barely a whisper of sound. I know it is low enough that they can hear me, but our would be captors wouldn't be able to. "Listen the space is small guys; they won't be able to rush us. They may have far superior numbers, but it won't do them any good, as long as we stay on this plane. Got it."

"This isn't our first fight lover," Eric smirks at me.

"Well let's pray it won't be our last." Just as I am finishing that sentence the door to the plane goes bursting inwards and hits the opposite wall. One booted foot slowly appears in our line of sight and then the other, slowly followed by Alcide. What is it with supes and their damn flare for the dramatic? I mean really. Is now the appropriate time to be all dark and mysterious?

I quickly lose my temper. "You know I knew it was you asshole you don't have to be all drama queen about your entrance," I snarl.

"Sookie love, such a pleasure to see you too."

"I would like to say likewise, but I really can't fucker. You hijacked my plane on the way to my fucking honeymoon, so I am really not all that pleased. You're cutting into my quality time fucking my husband. So why don't we just move this right along so I can get back to some hot Viking lovin'." Eric snickers at my quips and Alcide snarls.

"Sookie just put down your sword and come with me. We will let the others go and you will be safe."

"Seriously are fucking brain damaged or something? Did you not just witness this exact same conversation between Quinn and I? It didn't really work out all that well for him. What makes you think it will work out any differently for you?"

"BECAUSE I ACTUALLY LOVE YOU!"

"Are you kidding me? Is that the best you got? You love me? If you loved me so fucking much you wouldn't be here, hell bent on killing my husband and our family. What is wrong with you Alcide?"

"Nothing's wrong with me. What the fuck is wrong with you? Why would you even want to let that dead fucker touch you?"

"Ughh you know what, Eric is ten times the man you will ever be, so let's move on because I sure as fuck am not going to argue with you about it, AGAIN! Tell me why you're here. Did you do this on your own**,** for you own purposes, or are you here doing someone else's bidding?"

Flashes of pictures dance across my mind; Alcide distraught after finding out about me getting married, Bill approaching him, Bill trying to convince him of something, Bill getting frustrated because he wasn't listening, and then, oh shit! "Alcide," I say calmly. "Why are you here?"

"Bill just wants you to be safe Sook. You know he has always loved you. He would never do anything to hurt you. He never has done anything to hurt you. He understands that you can't be together, he told me that Eric glamoured you. He is going to let us finally be together. Isn't that wonderful?"

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Eric growls at Alcide and I try to send him calm and reassurance. "Alcide," I say slowly, "think about what you're sayin. You know everything I have been through with Bill, you know how many times he has hurt me, remember? He tried to kidnap me just a few days ago at Calvin's wedding, you were there that night, you fought beside us, try and remember Alcide. Bill doesn't love me**;** he wants to control me. Come on Alcide, we have known each other a long time, you know that Bill is a very bad man."

"No, no, no, no, no!" Alcide clinches his fists and puts them to his temples, and shakes his head back and forth quickly, throwing his raven hair wildly from one side to the other. "Bill has never hurt you," he says softly almost like a machine, an automatic response that has been programmed into him.

"You were there Alcide," Eric's deep voice booms beside me. "Your weres fought alongside my vampires to help save Sookie from capture at the hands of Quinn and the plotting of Bill Compton. You do not remember this?" Alcide is shaking his head again, and I watch him trying to clear the cobwebs from his mind.

"NO! Bill has never hurt Sookie, would never hurt Sookie, he is happy for us. He bought Sookie and I a big Ranch for us to live on. You should see it Sook, it is so beautiful when the sun is setting. Aww, it's a little piece of heaven. We will have horses and babies and anything we could ever dream. It will be perfect, we will be a normal family."

"He has lost his mind," Pam says, clearly astonished by Alcide's litte rant about our happily ever after.

"No he hasn't," I say sadly. "He's been fucking glamoured."

"That's not possible, weres and shifters can't be glamoured, everyone knows that," she says indignantly.

"How would you know, have you ever tried?" I huff**.**

I watch as Alcide paces back and forth, I can see his wolf just beneath the surface, itching for action. "No, but their brains, they don't work the same as humans. It is impossible; it can't be done."

"Well, Bill found a way, and now really isn't the time to argue about it," I snap at her, never taking my eyes off of Alcide and the vamps standing at his back.

"Just come with us Sook, please," he begs.

"Alcide honey, you know I can't and won't do that. Pull yourself out of the brain fuck that Bill has put on you and think. Help me, help us, and I can promise you will walk away from this."

Eric growls. "Not fucking likely."

"Not the time Eric, it isn't his fault."

"Enough of this!" A large, burley, male vampire says from behind Alcide. He pushes Alcide out of his way crossing his large muscular arms across his chest. He would be impressive, except standing in front of my Viking, and his three Viking brothers he looks like a midget. His cool green eyes lock onto mine and he says softly**,** "You will come with us. Put down your weapons and walk away from the Sheriff. You want to come with us."

I bark loudly with laughter and he flinches**;** seriously I made a four hundred year old vampire flinch! How I knew he was four hundred I would have to figure out later, but I knew that he was. "Did you just try and glamour me?" I ask, letting the disdain and incredulity spread thick across my words, like strawberry jam on toast.

"Well… I… the fucking were isn't doing his job right. I figure this is more expedient." He locks his gaze on mine and pushes his power into me, trying to roll my little brain, and I can feel him trying to bend me to his will. "Come with us Sookie. You want to come, you need to come."

"Umm, seriously did your master tell you guys nothing before you came here tonight? Did he not brief you at all? The reason he sent Alcide is because I CAN'T BE GLAMOURED FUCKER! Jesus fucking Christ, you would think some of you would have gotten the picture by now. I can't be fucking manipulated; it is one of the reasons so many of you are after me. It isn't like I am new here, have none of you ever fucking even heard the rumors? This is insulting."

He narrows his eyes at me and tries his best to give me his mean face, and I have to contain myself because, honestly, he looks more constipated then mean to me. "If you do not come willingly, we will take you by force."

"You can try," I cackle menacingly at him, and I see, just for an instant, a flash of fear cross his face. I know he thinks I am crazy, after all, since they woefully outnumber us, and I should be quacking in my boots. But I'm not, and the very fact that I'm not unhinges him.

I clear my throat, so my voice can carry to every supe ear in crystal clarity. "Leave now, and we will spare you. If you stay and fight, you will die. There will be no mercy. Your master is a coward, twice now he has attacked me, unprovoked; he has no claim on me. I belong to Sheriff Eric Northman of Area Five in Louisiana. I am his bonded; we have married by the knife and by human law. We are an unbreakable pair. The punishment for trying to interfere with such a bond is death.

"You all know the law, all of you know that if you follow on this fool's errand it will mean your end. I suggest you choose now. Perhaps your master did not inform you of whom you were dealing with. Perhaps your master failed to mention the facts of your simple snatch and grab. You will be pardoned, but only if you leave now.

"I am Princess Susannah Brigant-Northman and if you cross me, I will end you. If by some miracle you survive my wrath here tonight, my great grandfather will hunt you and end you, and if by some miracle you escape him, you will be captured by my Viking." I lean forward and watch as they respond leaning closer to me as well. "I guarantee, dying at the hands of me or my grandfather will be far more pleasant for you than what will happen to you if you end up in the hands of my husband." I wink at them and they all take a step back and look over at my Viking.

I look over at him and he has the most wicked grin on his face, and he slowly licks his lips. I can see the evil glint in his eyes and I know he is envisioning just what he will do with those he manages to get into his clutches. To my delight half the vampires run for the hills. I could do a happy dance right now; thank you Mr. Shuster for your wonderful acting tips in school.

"PUSSIES!" The large burly vamp screams at the retreating forms of his fleeing comrades.

"Not pussies," I say, and tilt my head to the side, "smart, savvy, practical, brilliant even."

"You're dead bitch," he snarls, spittle flying from his moth between, now barred, fangs.

"Somehow, I highly doubt it." I wink at him. "I don't think your lord and master would be very happy if I arrived cold."

"He said you had to be alive, he didn't say you couldn't be damaged**.** And I can think of plenty of things that will damage that pretty little uppity ass of yours."

"Well come on big boy," I say mockingly waving him forward. "Let's dance." I wink at him again and lunges at me, a battle cry escaping his lips.

I watch and wait, I tune out everyone around me; I can't worry about Eric, or Pam, or the brothers, I have to focus, because they can take care of themselves. Right now in this moment, I have to worry about me. I breathe out and center myself, my body running cold, my mind becoming the quiet echoing emptiness that is needed to kill. My hands shift slightly on Gwen and she hums beneath my palms, ready and eager for her first taste of blood. My heartbeat slows, bum bum… bum bum… bum bum… bum bum… every minuscule movement of the burly man's approach is broken down into small muscle movements in time with my heartbeat.

I wait for my opening**;** he is so close, I can smell his cologne, Drakier Noir, if I am right. Damn, I used to love that smell. He raises his sword above his head ready to strike at me with the pommel of the hilt. I assume he is trying to knock me unconscious and thinks he is moving too quickly for my mind to track. Inexperienced fucker, never underestimate your opponent. He leaves his abdomen and chest wide open, and I lunge; my blade slides into him slick and swift, right through the fatty tissue, the well developed muscles, the bone, and back out the other side. I quickly yank my blade to the left and a gaping hole opens in his, once massive chest. He falls to the floor a look of bewilderment crosses his face. I pivot on the balls of my feet and take his head. The last think he sees is me, blowing him a kiss goodbye. "Dumb fuck." I spit and kick his quickly designating corpse.

"Who's next?" I say and look up at the remaining vamps. The ones that weren't rushing Eric and the others pause momentarily, looking from each other, to me, to the vamp I just decapitated and then back to me. I laugh out loud, dumb asses. A tall gangly red head shrugs his shoulders and slowly walks towards me. At least he is a little smarter about his approach. I watch him move in slow easy glides, and his eyes rove over my body assessing my every movement. I clinch and unclench my grip on Gwen again and she hums happily. I breathe out and wait.

Now, I know I have come really far in my swordsmanship, but logistically there is no way I can take a vampire in a straight up fight. I can hold my own for a little while, but they have the large advantage of never getting tired. I always have to catch my opponent by surprise, and go in quickly for the kill. If I don't I'm dead. That is all there is to it. So as this lean ginger vamp, with still very dominate freckles approaches, I plot my little ass off. He finally reaches me, and tries to push his advantage, by pushing me backwards or forcing me to turn my back to the others. That is so not happening. I thrust forward and he matches me blow for blow, slowly stepping backwards. I then did the only thing I could think of, I drop all my weight to the floor, the moment of shock is just enough time, and I take that fucker's legs off at the knees. He topples backwards, and is stunned just enough that he doesn't have time to react when I shove Gwen in through his rib cage piercing his heart. I quickly remove her and then take his head. Yay me!

I somersault backwards and get to my feet quickly, thankfully, and I move out of the way just in time as the next vamp tries to rush me while I am in mid tumble. His thrust ends up going through the floor leaving me with just enough time to take his head while he is trying to free it. Again**,** yay me!

Two more come rushing at me, this time it is a male and a female, they look so similar that I figure they have to be related somehow. Their dark raven hair whips wildly behind them as they fly towards me. We exchange a flurry of blows and I fight with everything I have in me. They somehow manage to maneuver me so my back is turned to the others and I hear Pam shout, "Sookie behind you!"

I take the brother's head, and turn just in time to see the sister raising her blade, but God bless Pam; she takes that bitch's head before she has even started her downward swipe. "Thanks," I pant, a little winded from the last two.

"Got your back," she says and hip bumps me. "What else are step daughters good for?"

I laugh mischievously at her and turn back to the fight, and there is gore and ash everywhere. Only a handful of vamps remain**,** maybe twenty at most, and most of them are engaged with my beautiful husband and his brothers. "Man, we are never going to get the deposit back. You think that we can stop at a car wash so we can clean the carpets before we return the plane back to Felipe?"

Pam laughs**.** "Focus woman, we aren't out of the woods yet." And just like that she is back to fighting, three big men rush my tiny little Pam all at the same time and I can't help but to be awed by her abilities. She is fucking lethal; she quickly takes down the first two and then turns on the third, cutting his arms off at the shoulder and then taking his head. _Note to self, never piss Pam off._

Another vamp rushes me, a short little blonde woman this time. We dance around each other, feinting here and there, sizing each other up and trying to get through the other**'**s defense. Damn I don't have time for this, I can already feel the burn in muscles and my hands are beginning to shake with fatigue. I drop my sword, and double over pretending to be done for. Of course the dumb blonde fucking falls for it, and she rushes me. I wait until the last possible second and pull my sword right up the middle, cutting her in half from crotch to skull. Yay me again!

I look around, and quickly assess what is going on. Really everyone is engaged, the only one left is Alcide and his pathetic butt is curled up in a ball in the corner. A glimmer of light catches my eye and I turn towards it to see Pam fighting two more vamps. I watch as she moves, effortlessly around them, but they have more skill then her and are forcing her to keep up a rigorous pace. A whirl of blades and she disarms one and turns towards the other, I can see she is going to take is head in just a few more seconds. I look back to the second vamp and realize he has a very sharp, very pointy, very wooden, stake raised and is getting ready to slam into her with it from behind. Pam is so busy with the first she doesn't even notice that the second was still an issue.

"NOOOOO!" I scream and rush him, throwing myself between Pam and her would be killer just as he is plunging the stake down. I feel is slide through my armor and into my chest. Honestly, I am really lucky that I am shorter then Pam, or it would have gone right through my heart. As it is, it slides through my shoulder, snapping bones and tendons as it slides through and 'thunks' into the back-plate of my armor.

I fall to my knees and the fighting stops, my breath is ragged and I can't get in enough air. I feel a whoosh of wind above my head and I see the vamp who staked me fall in front of me. I fall backwards, and stare up at the ceiling. "That will never come out," I say, as I spot the blood and guts sprayed across the roof of the plane.

"Sookie, Sookie, can you hear me?" I hear Pam's frantic voice off to my left, but it sounds funny, kind of echoy like it is coming from far away or being bounced down a tunnel.

I turn my head and look at her and smile lightly at her as her blurry figure slowly comes into focus. "Of course I can hear yah, I'm not deaf just dying." She sobs and bites her lip trying to hold it in. "Hey, it's alright Pammy, I got your back."

"Lover," I hear my husband's frantic voice on my right and I wobble my head to look into his beautiful blue eyes.

"Hey handsome," I smile at him move slightly trying to raise my hand to touch his face. A burst of flame tears through my chest with the movement and I let out a scream.

"Lover, it's all right, everything will be all right, you'll be fine, you'll see," my husband says softly**.** I know he is trying to reassure me, but his words are frantic and panicky and I know it is way worse than I thought.

"No it isn't," I say softly**.** "I love you Eric."

"No Sookie, you'll be fine. Just hold on, you're fine." I watch him turn his head in Pam's direction. "Get me something to cut her out of her armor, quick." He looks back to me. "See lover, we are going to get you out of your armor and then we will fix you right up. Everything is going to be okay."

"I love you," I whisper again and the world slowly starts to fade to black.

"Sookie! NO DAMN IT! NO OPEN YOUR EYES! SOOKIE!" I hear Eric's frantic pleas and demands as I am slowly sucked into darkness, and the only thing I can think over and over again is, 'I love you Eric.'


	14. Chapter 14

**Authors Notes:**

Hey everyone first let me say thank you so much for your patience and understanding on the delay. My beautiful, wonderful, magnificent beta worked her butt off to get these chapters edited and back to me so I could get them out to you as fast as we could. Hopefully I didn't lose a bunch of ya to the delay.

As always I want to give all of you a ton of love for taking the time to read and review my work. It means a ton to me and truly encourages me to keep going. So please people remember to hit the little green button and tell me what you think, be it good, bad, or indifferent. I know I don't always respond to you guys, because if I did I would be spending more time writing responses then writing the stories I create, but I try and take the time to answer those of you who are confused or have something negative to say. I will always try and explained myself if there is something you are bothered by. I am more than happy to give my reasoning for doing things in the story, as long as I don't give away and future plot.

One last thing, I am in the final stages of my website going up. Catie, my beautiful editor, is working on my past work so that it is all polished and shiny, my sister is helping me with the music factor, even though a ton of you have helped with that as well, I do still have to get some pictures together for the site, but that isn't as important as the rest. I will let you guys know so you can go and check it out. I am excited to have all of you come and tell me what you think.

Much love from the west coast,

Lilli

**Chapter 14 ****(Eric's P.O.V.)**

The battle is going well, but I would expect nothing less. Even with the odds being what they are, my brothers and I are a force to be reckoned with. Add in Sookie and Pam, and we are unstoppable. Much blood will be spilled today, and I know none of it will be ours. Another thing that I am sure of is that something has to be done about Bill fucking Compton. Twice now, in as many days, he has come after Sookie, and he keeps upping the ante. It is really hard for me to believe that he is so young, considering that he seems to have unending resources. How else would he be able to muster up such a large force in such a short amount of time?

The heavy, wet sounds of battle percolate my brain and fuel my blood lust. It has been so long since I have had a good battle. Well, if I don't count the other one I was in the day we met. Two battles in three days, as much as I love a good fight, like a respectable Viking vamp should, I hope that this won't become a trend. No matter how skilled my lover is, she is still human, well mostly human, and I have seen the signs of her fatigue throughout this skirmish.

I think the only reason she has done as well as she has is because she has the distinct advantage that these vampires are not looking to kill her, they are only attempting to knock her out and get her away. That tactic severely limits what they are going to be able to do and how they approach each fight with her. She is also at an extreme disadvantage in other areas as well. The fact that she is slower than most supes is a HUGE issue that leaves her vulnerable. As much as I hate to even think it, I know soon enough we are going to have to have a discussion at some point about her leaving her humanity behind and becoming a vampire. I will never pressure her, nor will I change her without her permission, but with the world that we live in I think it would be for the best. It isn't just because I am selfish and want her with me forever, really it isn't.

A scream that chills me to my very bones rips through the small cabin of the plane. A blood curdling cry that pleads not to let the reality of something occur, that I pray to never have to hear again. I turn and see my Sookie, my delicate little flower, rushing at top speed through the plane directly at Pam. Pam is so wrapped up in her current fight that she is unaware that a enemy is barreling at her, stake in hand, ready to end her life.

I don't know what to do; in all my years I have never just frozen, but in this moment that is just what is happening. I am rooted to the spot knowing that soon, either my child who I love more than I have words to describe will meet her end, or my little human wife would make it in time to save Pam but put herself directly in front of that stake. The scene opens up in front of me in slow motion; each step Sookie takes is almost painful. I want to scream out to her, tell her not to, tell Pam to move, something, anything. I know I am screaming in my head, but the words are not managing to leave my throat.

All of the sudden everything just speeds up, and as if making up for the slowing down of time it almost moves in fast-forward, almost so fast that even my eyes are having problems keeping up with it. Perhaps it is just my perception of the terrible event unfolding, but it sure as hell seemed to me like everything was blurry around the edges because it was moving so quickly.

I watch in horror as Sookie reaches Pam the millisecond before the enemy strikes her down, and my little Sookie shoves her out of the way and sends her flying into the wall of the plane. I hear the sickening thunk of the stake hitting the back-plate of her armor. She stands there, dazed for a moment, as if her brain is trying to process what has just occurred, and then I watch as Sookie falls. Her blond hair streaming upwards, her bright blood slowly trickling down the silvery shine of her armor, her limbs almost limp beside her, as time did that funny thing again, and she slowly falls.

The minute, no the second, no the millisecond, that Sookie, my lover, my bonded, my wife, my… well for lack of a better turn of phrase, my everything, hits the ground, my world shatters. I feel like someone has just cleaved my head in two and ripped open my chest. I watch still in this weird frozen silence as Pam kneels next to Sookie and screams her name, trying to get her attention.

"Of course I can hear yah, I'm not deaf just dying," Sookie mumbles, her words are slurred and sluggish, but something in them frees me from my self-imposed prison and finally enables me to react.

I quickly scan the cabin and see all the vamps left standing were fleeing the scene quickly, dragging Herveaux behind them. I look over at Kaare and nod in their direction. He knows what to do; those assholes are not to leave, and he needs to ensure that.

I rush to Sookie's side and Pam looks up at me, the look on her face is fucking heartbreaking; blood red tears are freely streaming down her face and she is clearly afraid. I don't think I have ever seen the mighty Pam be afraid of anything, of course I had never frozen in place unsure how to react before either, but still, it is disturbing to me to see her react this way. I guess I am not the only one who has completely fallen for the little blonde angel on the floor.

"Lover," I say and am floored by the sound of my own voice. I mean to be strong, comforting, confident, but my voice is anything but those things; it is small, and meek, and more than a little bit scared. Was I suddenly having a split personality or something? I feel two distinct parts of myself warring for control, but the only part that is acting is the scared little human that is apparently still alive and kicking within me. It is weird as hell; I can think everything through logically, and yet none of that logic is coming into play. Eric Northman does not do indecisive, illogical, scared rabbit. NO! Eric Northman always has an even head and a million plans for every possible outcome. What the fuck is going on with me?

"Hey handsome," she says, her voice rough and cracking and she smiles softly at me. She moves her hand towards me, as if to touch my face, but the movement must have done something because I watch helplessly as my wife's small frame contorts in pain and she lets out a wail of anguish.

"Lover, it's all right, everything will be all right, you'll be fine, you'll see." I cup her face, pleading with every single God and entity out there that is listening to make my words true.

"No it isn't," she says, her chest wheezing with the effort to breath. "I love you Eric."

"No Sookie, you'll be fine. Just hold on, you're fine." I plead with her, begging her to just have the strength to get through the next hour. If we can get help, and get the stake out of her without hurting her further, I can heal her and everything will be fine. I turn my head towards Pam and bark at her, "Get me something to cut her out of her armor, quick!" I don't even bother to see if she is following my order, I just turn back to my woman and try to comfort her more, beg her to hang on just a little bit longer. "See lover, we are going to get you out of your armor and then we will fix you right up. Everything is going to be okay."

"I love you," she whispers and her eyes flutter closed.

"Sookie! NO DAMN IT! NO OPEN YOUR EYES! SOOKIE!" I scream at her; I want nothing more than to pick her up off the ground and shake her until she opens her eyes again. Her eyes flutter once more and then I hear it, a mere whisper in my mind and I know it is my beloved Sookie. 'I love you Eric,' she says, and promptly is sucked into the abyss of unconsciousness. I feel something cool and wet on my cheeks and I angrily wipe it away and am surprised to see blood coating my fingers and palms. What the fuck? It takes a moment for me to realize, I am crying. Eric Northman the baddest, fiercest, most respected and most feared warrior is crying.

After what seems like forever, my two halves finally, FINALLY merge and something within me clicks into place. I turn back to Pam. "Where are the scissors I asked for?"

"Here master," she says quietly and hands them to me. I immediately start snipping and the leather straps holding the two pieces of the plate together, when I feel a strong hand firmly grip my shoulder.

"Eric." I look up into Ivar's stern, yet compassionate face. "You have to stop."

"I will not just sit here and watch MY WIFE die."

He shakes his head softly. "I am not suggesting anything of that sort, but if try and remove the armor now, without the proper tools, you could harm her further."

"Explain," I say coolly to him. This better be fucking good, because every second is another step closer to my losing my wife.

He crouches down next to me and looks me in the eye. "If you try and remove her armor without the proper tools, you could cause a lot more damage to your little wife. You could bump the stake and it could pierce her heart, and there is no coming back from that."

"I can't sit here and just do nothing while my wife bleeds out all over the rug!"

"I am not saying that you should do nothing, I am saying that you cannot remove that armor right now. Look at Sookie as if you don't know her, and assess her injury; she is bleeding very little at the moment, the stake is preventing her from bleeding out. Listen to her lungs, they are working fine at the moment, I do not hear any puncture there either. Her heartbeat is beating regularly, just a little slower than normal. She is in shock and her brain shut down to protect itself from the pain. It is a good thing she is not conscious at the moment, because when we do remove that stake it is going to hurt like hell."

I close my eyes and take a moment to just stop and listen, and I find all of my brothers words to be accurate and for the life of me I am at a loss as to what to do next. I slowly open my eyes and look at Ivar. "What do I do?" I ask, my voice sounding small and timid, almost like that of a child asking if their parent was certain the monsters under the bed were really gone.

He smiles at me kindly and pats my knee; he opens his mouth to offer a suggestion and my phone rings, effectively cutting off whatever he was going to say. "Well there's your answer brother. Answer your phone, deal with your king. I will stay with Sookie."

I nod at him, stand, walk away a few steps, and flip open my phone. I try to center myself as best as I can, I cannot and will not show weakness to Felipe. I may be able to show my softer side to my family, but I refuse to show it to my king. "Northman," I say as my greeting.

"What has occurred?" the smooth rich accent of de Castro asks, floating into my brain and helping me to stay on task.

"The plane was boarded."

"And…" he says impatiently, "do you know who was behind the attack? What occurred once you were boarded, what is your status? You are obviously still alive, but what of the others? What of Miss Stackhouse… I mean Mrs. Northman?"

"Bill Compton was behind the attack. He somehow managed to glamour a Were."

"WHAT!" de Castro roars in my ear. I hear him cussing rapidly in Spanish, too rapidly for me to pick up exactly what he is saying. Something about fucking Bill's dead mother, or maybe desecrating the grave of Bill's ancestors, I am really not certain. But whatever it is, one thing is certain; Felipe is pissed. I let the king's tirade wear itself out until he finally calms down enough to say, "How? Who? Why?"

"I am unsure of the how your majesty. Sookie said that she saw the memory of the occurrence while we were questioning the Were as to his motives. The who, is Alcide Herveaux. Are you familiar with him?"

"Yes, he is the pack master in Shreveport, correct?"

"Indeed."

"But why would he help Compton? Isn't Sookie a friend of the pack?"

"She is, but Sookie seemed to think that Bill took advantage of Alcide's little tirade about her marrying me and glamoured him into believing the dumbest shit I have ever heard in my long life. As to the why, I can only hypothesize at this point, but I believe that Bill's motivations were that Sookie would perhaps be more amenable to leaving with Alcide than she was to leaving with Quinn."

"Hmmm… jodido idiota (fucking idiot). What is your status? What occurred during the battle? What do you want to do next?"

"Your majesty please forgive my rudeness, but at the moment, I don't really give a fuck. I need you to call whoever is the Queen or King of this area and get a helicopter or something out to our location. I will gladly pour over every miniscule detail with you at a later time, but during the skirmish Sookie was staked and we need help. I am unsure of how to proceed because I do not want to harm her further, but I know that we cannot leave the stake in her chest forever."

"Good Lord Eric, you should have said something right away. Of course I will help you. I believe that Queen Clarissa is in charge of that area. Let me make a few phone calls and I will…" the king paused as a loud popping sound occurred in his office. He growls loudly and bellows, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY OFFICE?"

"_Are you on the phone with the boy?"_ I almost growl myself. Fucking great. Just what I want to deal with, fucking Niall.

"What boy?" the king hisses at him.

"_Do not play games with me _Felipe_, I know my granddaughter is hurt. Now, let me speak to the boy while you run along and do whatever it was that you were getting ready to do."_

"You do not have to speak to him Eric."

I sigh heavily. "Yes I do."

"I will still call Clarissa, and I will let you know an E.T.A. and if she has any ideas."

"Thank you your majesty."

"Of course," he says, and I assume he must have handed the phone to Niall because I hear a small amount of rustling and I can hear Felipe dialing another phone somewhere in the distance.

"What is her status?" Niall demands.

I take a deep breath and count to ten; this is Sookie's family and she would not be happy with me if I threatened to rip off his head and shit down his throat. Well technically I am incapable of doing the last bit, but that doesn't mean I can't get creative and still make it happen.

"She was staked in the skirmish."

"WHAT? HOW!"

"She jumped between my child and one of the attacking vamps when he tried to stake her."

"Stupid fucking girl. She is always doing this. You know this is the second time she has saved one of you blood suckers from getting staked? That time she ended up with the stake in her side. Can you remove the stake and heal her?"

"Not at the moment. We think it would be best until we have her somewhere safe and perhaps have someone to help slow the bleeding before I give her my blood."

It is eerily quiet on the other end of the line; I can just make out the hushed whispers of Felipe speaking to someone on the phone somewhere else nearby. "Turn her," Niall says and if you tried in this moment to knock me over with a feather you would have succeeded.

"Excuse me?" I say. Shock, incredulity, utter surprise, all of it an understatement to the emotions I have pouring through me at the moment.

"Turn her now Eric. You and that girl are destined to do something that will change the world and that cannot happen if she is dead. Turn her NOW!"

"NO!" I scream at him.

"Excuse me?" he snorts in disbelief.

"There is no excuse for you," I snap.

"You will turn the girl," he growls at me.

"I most certainly WILL NOT!"

"You know, for someone who was just professing their undying love for my granddaughter yesterday, you sure have a funny way of showing your devotion by allowing her to die."

"First of all," I growl, "you will never question my devotion to Sookie, not to me and most certainly not to her. If I ever, EVER hear you speaking that way to either one of us again, let's just say I will make a whole lot of vampires a bunch of very happy campers when they get drunk on Niallade. Second, we do not know what is going to occur with MY wife yet. She is not at death's door; she is merely in shock at the moment. Third, I will not turn her because she has not given me permission to do so. She is unconscious at the moment and unable to make a decision one way or the other. I WILL NOT and I will repeat this just so that we are crystal fucking clear, WILL NOT turn **MY WIFE** without speaking to her first."

"Why by the Goddess not? It isn't like you haven't done so before. It isn't like hundreds, nay thousands, of others in your race do not do it. So help me Eric, if that girl dies it will be on your head."

"The girl has a name or did you forget? Are you so caught up in your intrigues that you forgot to consider for one second what Sookie might want? I will admit to turning my child Jim without his permission, but that was a mistake. One I do NOT intend to make again."

"Just fucking do it Northman. Drain her, have one of your brothers pull the stake, and feed her your blood. She needs to be kept safe."

"For the last time **NO**! I will not make that decision unless absolutely necessary."

"I can come and make it necessary."

"I guarantee that if you show your fucking fairy face right now you will be dead in under a minute flat and then I will have to explain to my Sookie that I had to kill her grandfather because he wanted me to kill her. I do not and will not take orders from you. Put my king back on the fucking phone so that I can get back to saving my wife."

"Fine, but know this Northman; this is not over."

"Oh far from it. Just wait until my wife hears about how much you care for her safety. Why don't you do us both a fucking favor and trip and fall onto an iron rake or something?"

I hear the loud thud of the phone hitting the floor and then the unmistakable sound of Niall popping to wherever the hell it is he pops too. I for one was hoping that he accidently popped himself right into a fucking volcano. Fucking fairy. The light tap tap tapping of Felipe's designer shoes come closer and closer to the phone until he finally picks it up. "Northman, you still there?"

"Yeah, where else would I be?" I snort in an attempt at humor but my underlying frustration kind of killed the sarcasm and humor of it.

"Indeed," he chuckles lightly. "Down to business then. First, Clarissa is five minutes out, ten minutes at the most. She suggested that you call Edgington because he was the one who took care of Sookie the last time that this occurred. Perhaps he will have some ideas."

"As soon as we hang up I will call him and inquire, thank you your majesty."

"Of course Eric, don't mention it. Now, were there any survivors from the battle?"

"Yes."

"Do you have them in custody?"

I look over at Ivar and Stephan who are hovering over my Sookie, and Ivar nods in agreement without ever looking up from Sookie's still form. "Yes."

"Good. Will you need transport for them or do you have vehicles there you can use to transport them?"

"Hold one moment and I shall inquire." I zip out of the plane and find Kaare standing over five vamps and one Were. I can't contain the growl the trickles from lips when I see them.

"Kaare, do they have a vehicle you can use to transport them to Queen Clarissa's compound?"

"Yes, but a few managed to escape on foot before I managed to catch up to them and I don't know about you, but I will feel better to catch the few that fled before the fight."

"Indeed, but we will work out our next move after we reach the Queens compound. I want you to take Pam and Ivar and start heading in that direction. Hold on one second let me get the address from Felipe."

I turn back to the phone and ask, "Did you get all of that your majesty?"

"Yes. Tell your brother to head into Albuquerque and look for Las Mañanitas. He won't be able to miss it. It is a huge building in the middle of the city right off of Rio Grande Blvd. It is one of the few buildings that is adobe style all of the other buildings are more modern art deco looking buildings. Call me as soon as you can so that we can discuss where to go from here. In the meantime I will put out word to every single Sheriff, King, and Queen in the states to be on the lookout for Bill. But see if you can get the location they were supposed to meet him from one of the prisoners. Narrowing down his location would be much easier for everyone."

"Hold a moment." I look up at Kaare and nod towards the plane. "Go grab Pam and Ivar."

He pauses for a moment, looking at me questioningly and I just wave him off. He walks towards the plane and I crouch in front of one Alcide Herveaux. "Wolf, where were you supposed to meet Bill after you had gotten Sookie to go with you?"

"Fuck you Northman."

I growl loudly at him, grab his pinky finger and rip it right off his hand. A sharp yowl of pain bursts from his throat and echoes through the night. "I do not have time to play games. I do not have time to gently persuade you into telling me what I need to know. Because of your idiotic behavior Sookie could die. So no wolf, FUCK YOU!" I grab his pinky on the other hand and rip it off just as quickly, another howl of pain bubbles out of him and I smirk at him.

"Now, tell me where you were supposed to meet that fucking asshole Bill Compton or I am going to rip off your fucking dick."

"Oregon… tomorrow… after sundown," he pants heavily, barely getting out the words.

"Where in Oregon fucker? It is a big fucking state."

"I don't know where we were supposed to meet him. We have a private plane that was supposed to take us into Portland tonight and then he would call us at our hotel to let us know where to go."

"Fucking pathetic loser," I say and kick him in his thigh as I stand up. "Did it ever occur to you that there is something wrong with this picture? If Bill bought you a home for you and Sookie to share down south why would he have you go up north to meet him? You dumb fuck," I say and kick him again, this time in his stomach.

He doubles over and pukes onto the pavement beside him, barely missing himself and the vamps sitting next to him. "You know…" he pants heavily as he tries to speak. "She will never forgive you for torturing me."

I crouch down in front of him again and look straight into his emerald green eyes. I want to make sure he is listening to every single syllable that passes my lips. "Maybe, but somehow I think that she will forgive me," I say coldly.

"Oh yeah? What makes you so fucking confident blood sucker?"

"Well there is the fact that YOU tried to kidnap her, for that scum Compton. Oh, and there is also the fact that I didn't get her staked and nearly killed, again I am pretty sure YOU are guilty there as well. If I recall correctly you were with her the last time this happened as well, so twice you have almost gotten MY woman killed, lovely. Then there is the fact that her friend, that's you in case you were wondering, betrayed her. It is a shame really because from what I have seen of my beautiful wife she would do anything for those she loves. Somehow I doubt that she will have a lot of love for you after the little stunt you pulled this evening. Oh yeah, I almost forgot the icing on the cake is that SHE LOVES ME and she knows that I will do WHATEVER I deem necessary in order to protect her. If that means pulling off your fucking useless pinkies then so fucking be it."

I stand and start to walk away when a thought crosses my mind, and I turn back to the pathetic fucking asshole. "Oh and one more thing." Alcide raises his eyebrow to me skeptically. "If she dies, if I lose my wife because of what you started here tonight, you're in for a whole new world of torture the likes of which you have never imagined. You think me pulling your pinkies off was bad. Well just you fucking wait, because if I lose the woman I love because of your reckless behavior I will fucking drain you dry and turn you myself just so that I can fucking torture you for the next thousand years. Believe me, I have seen A LOT of forms of torture over my time and I guarantee that I will fucking bestow every single one upon your head and make up new ones! If my woman dies, you are well and truly fucked!"

Alcide's face pales, whether it is from the blood loss or the threat I can't be a hundred percent certain, but something tells me he knows I will make good on my words. I stand and walk away from the asshole and never look back. I am done with him, for the moment anyway. I have more important things to tend to, mainly my wife.

Pam, Kaare, and Ivar are standing at the bottom of the steps leading into the plane, waiting for me. I nod to them all and notice my child is sulking. I roll my eyes; I really don't have time nor the patience for this.

"Master," she says and bows slightly to me.

"What do you want Pamela?"

"I wish to remain with you and Sookie."

"No," I say and try and remain as calm as possible.

"But…"

"NO! I want you to go with Ivar and Kaare and make sure that the prisoners do not escape."

"But…"

"BUT NOTHING! DO AS I SAY!" I watch her eyes fill with tears and I almost feel badly for yelling at her. She stomps away towards the prisoners, and I can hear her lifting them and slamming them around in her anger and hurt feelings.

Kaare shakes his head, but says nothing and walks away, to help Pam, or at least that is what I assume he is going to go and do. I never bother to look and see what exactly it is that he is doing, because honestly, at this point, I don't give a flying fuck. Ivar crosses his arms over his chest and leans closer to me. "You should have just told her that her being upset will only make things harder on you. She would have understood. I know you are upset, but taking it out on us will not get you anywhere. If the worst does happen you will need us to be by your side. You pushing us away will do no one any good."

I sigh heavily and feel the weight of all my years dragging me down and threatening to pull me under its undulating turmoil. "If the worst does happen, it will not matter how any of you feel. I will deal with Herveaux and Compton and then I will join my wife in Folkvang." I don't even give him the opportunity to respond; I just pat his shoulder and walk away. I am done dealing with everyone else, right now I need to concentrate on my wife.

I walk up the steps; each one feeling like it is harder than the last to take. Eventually I make it up those blasted steps that seemed to roll on for eternity and into the plane. My wife still lies right where I left her. Her body is so still and pale; she indeed looks like death has already come and claimed her. I feel my heart break for one instant before I focus and listen carefully. Nothing much has changed, her heart is still beating, slow but steady, and she is still able to breathe on her own.

I crouch down next to her and push a stray hair off of her face. She is so cold and clammy to the touch that I yank my hand back as if her skin has just burned me. "She will be fine brother, have faith. The fates wouldn't have brought you two together only to be separated so soon."

I jump slightly with the sound of my brother Stephan's voice. I had forgotten that he was even here. "Somehow," I say, filling my voice with sarcasm, "I am not feeling so confident in the fates at the moment and I find that my faith is incredibly lacking as well."

He smiles softly at me. "I can understand why you would feel that way."

"Maybe Niall was right," I say bitterly. I feel my heart break and my confidence waver, I look over at my brother, tears once again streaming down my face. "Am I making the right decision here Stephan? Should I just turn her and pray that she will not be angry with me? Should I just save the woman I love and say damn the consequences?"

"Sadly brother only you can answer those questions. There is no guarantee here, no matter what your choice is. The possibilities are truly endless in this situation. I think that you should trust yourself though. I think you should try and hold onto your faith and know that Sookie will be fine. At the moment though you need to stay focused, be the warrior that you are brother, stand strong for you woman, plot and scheme and do all of those things that I have never really been good at. I will pray, you plot." He winks at me and offers me a small smile, one that I can't help but return.

At the same moment we both look off to the west. "The helicopter is close, you should call Russell and find out what he did to save your beloved the last time she found herself in this situation. You will not be able to speak with him when we are in flight. Those damn things are terribly noisy. That is one thing I miss about the supposed dark ages, it was so peaceful and quiet, and now everyone is loud, loud, loud, and busy, busy, busy. No one just stops and takes time to look around and enjoy life anymore." He shakes his head and chuckles lightly.

I narrow my eyes at him. "Shakespeare was a bad influence on you; you were already pretentious enough before you met that uppity poet."

He laughs and I feel a bit of the weight that has been slowly dragging me down lift off my shoulders. "Make your call brother; I think you have maybe four minutes. I will check and see if I can find some time of board to slide under Sookie so that she isn't jostled to much in the move."

I simply nod and take my beloved's hand; I refuse to leave her side again. I need to make calls, and tend to things, but I just can't drag myself away from her. I flip open my phone scrolling through my numbers to see if I have Russell's contact info, of course I don't so I have to find Sookie's cell. Fortunately her purse is close enough that I can reach it, and I quickly pluck her cell out and find Russell's number and call.

After just one ring he answers, "Dahhhhlinggg, I did not expect to hear from you so soon. I would have thought you would have been too busy having hot monkey sex with your stud muffin to remember the little people that have been there for you along the way."

I can't help myself; I burst into a fit of laughter. With everything that is going on, it just feels good to laugh at Russell's ridiculous, over the top nature. "Well, I must admit, wild monkey sex does sound lovely, but unfortunately I have a situation that I need your help with."

I can almost see the shift in Russell's personality; he has gone from fun loving flamer, to all business ruthless vampire in less than a millisecond. "What has happened and why are you calling me from Sookie's phone?"

"The answers are one in the same, but I don't have a lot of time. We were attacked, and before you go off asking questions I will give a very brief rundown and give you the rest of the details later because there is more important matters at hand. Compton." Russell growls. "Yeah that about sums it up. He sent a massive force against us, lead by the pack-master friend of Sookie's."

"Alcide? Are you sure? He would never do anything that…"

"I assure you he did, but let's just skip all that and keep going I will give you more details later. In the skirmish Sookie jumped in front of a big fucking stake that was aimed at my child's heart. Somehow Pam did not notice the attacker and Sookie knew it would have ended her. So… the day after my wedding, on the way to my honeymoon, my wife is staked and now lays unconscious on the floor of my plane and we are stuck in the middle of fucking New Mexico. Queen Clarissa is sending a helicopter to transport us to her compound, but I know nothing about her and her people. The whole reason I am calling though is that I understand that this is not the first time this has occurred to my wife, correct?"

After a long pause and Russell clearing his throat, clearly he is affected by Sookie's being hurt just as much as I am; they have been friends for some time. To be honest that is saying a lot, because vampires do NOT have friends, but to characterize Sookie and Russell's relationship any other way would be inaccurate. "Yes, she ummm… she came to Jackson to rescue Bill. She was in the club and she saved Betty Jo by jumping between a fanatic and her. The stake went into her side. How bad is it Eric?"

"I am unsure how bad it is. I know it went all the way through, from what I can tell it hasn't hit any of her major organs. It went in below her collarbone and above her heart, and somehow has missed her lungs. I cannot examine the wound though until we get to the compound. She is wearing her armor that the blacksmith made for her and we are afraid of jostling her too much. We have to wait until we can use metal sheers to cut her out of it to be able to tell how bad the wound is. Sookie is going to be pissed as hell if she wakes up though because we picked up that armor right before we left for our trip. Literally we were on our way to the plane when we got it."

Russell chuckles lightly. "Oh that silly bitch would be pissed about something as stupid as that." We both have a nice laugh, easing the terrible tension of the situation considerably. "What is it that you need me to do for you Eric?"

"How did you do it? What I mean is, the last time, how did you save her?"

"One of my nest is gifted, his talent was that he produced an abundance of the anti-coagulant that is in our saliva. He treated the wound to stop it from bleeding and then I gave her a very small amount of my blood to heal her. I had no idea that she was a spy sent to rescue Compton. I was just so… so… fuck I don't know, drawn to her. I knew I had to protect her, to keep her safe. I wasn't even mad when I realized she had taken that scum from my nest. She only did what she thought was right at the time and I admired her for that even more."

"Do you know if this Clarissa has someone with a similar ability within her assets."

"I am unsure, but even if she doesn't we will be there soon. I will be there in an hour or so and I will make sure to have Ray Don meet us there. He should be there in two hours at the most. Do you think Sookie will make it that long?"

"I am unsure; I will know more once we can look at the wound."

"Eric, if it comes down to it, my best suggestion, since I am assuming that you are choosing not to turn her since you would have already done it by now, is to give her some of your blood after you examine the wound."

I gasp. "But her body would start healing around the stake. We would have to reinjure her when we take it out."

"Do you have a better suggestion? If that stake is the only thing keeping her from bleeding out because it is pressed just right against an artery then it won't matter if Ray Don is with me or not. We would have to partially heal her first anyways and then remove the stake slowly, healing her little by little along the way so she can make it through. If that stake hit an artery and we just remove it, she will bleed out in just a few minutes; no matter what Ray Don does it wouldn't matter."

I growl at the idea of the tortures my woman has in front of her. I swear I will bring the wrath of all the Gods down on Compton's miserable fucking head. He will rue the day he was ever a fucking sperm in his daddy's nut sack. "Fine, be here as quickly as possible. I will call you when we have assessed her injuries further." I think for a moment. "Call Roland, he is the blacksmith that Sookie and I got our weapons from. I am not sure if he can be of any help, but I just had this gut feeling that he needs to come out here, so see if you can persuade him."

"Of course, talk with you soon Northman."

I click Sookie's phone shut and stick it in my pocket. I never have been one for all those silly pleasantries that people indulge in over the telephone, especially when I have more important things to attend to.

I can hear the helicopter touching down and I am almost relived that it has finally arrived. "Soon beloved," I whisper into Sookie's ear. "Very soon you will be all better. I promise, we will make it through this and then we will hunt." I kiss her forehead lightly and wait for the mysterious vamps to find us and help us transport my wife to the Queen's compound.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15:**

**(Eric's P.O.V)**

"Eric, come and help me with this hatch." I look up and notice my brother, Stephan, is inspecting the hatch that leads down to the cargo area of the plane.

"What is it that you need help with exactly?"

"Well, I think that if we strap Sookie onto it somehow, she will be much safer."

"How exactly?"

"I have noticed that it is something paramedics use on humans. It stabilizes the human's body and makes it so that they do not further injure themselves."

"Do you think that I am incapable of holding my wife steady while we are in flight?" I ask, upset by his implication.

"Not at all Eric, but what if we hit turbulence, or what if the helicopter lands harder than you expect it to, or any other numerous risks. I just feel that it would be much safer if we transport her this way. With the stake being in the position that it is in it is too risky to take any chances."

I sigh**.** I know he is only trying to help. None of this is his fault, and he is trying to find busy work to keep his own mind from going into a tailspin. Stephan has always been so sensitive, and I know this has to affect him almost as much as it does me. He would be upset enough as it is, dealing with having been in battle and killing others because he never has been a fighter; he does it out of necessity, not because he is born to do it. Add onto that the fact that Pam was almost staked, I am distraught, and Sookie's life hangs in the balance, it would make anyone, vampire or not, upset.

"Stephan," I sigh again, "why is it that you need me to help you pull that hatch. You are more than strong enough to pull it."

"But, I don't want there to be any sharp edges for her to further injure herself on."

I stand and walk over to the hatch and look it over. "Stephan, just pull the pins. I know that the nuts are welded to the end of them but that would be the best root. See? Look." I kneel down next to the hatch and break off one of the welded nuts that is holding the pin into place and slide it out easily. "It is a door, just like any other. I know you are upset brother, but you need to use your head. We are going into a compound of an unknown monarch and I need you to be your normal, comforting, strong self. Please, just take a deep breath and think things through. You are always good at spotting angles I seem to miss."

Stephan laughs lightly."Well that is because not every situation entails layers upon layers of backstabbing and intrigue. What is that modern saying humans are so fond of?" He taps his chin lightly**,** clearly racking his brain trying to come up with the right turn of phrase. "Ah yes, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it must be a duck. Sometimes things are exactly what they appear to be. You just lose sight of that from time to time."

I laugh at him**.** "Sure, except when the duck is really a shifter, trying to pass itself off as a duck. Then my layers upon layers of plans and contingency plans wouldn't seem so trivial, now would it?"

He laughs, throwing back his head in amusement**.** "Only you would see a shape shifter and plan for it to leap at you in a murderous rage, in something as simple as a duck. I wonder if every time you see a bird flying over head if you make plans for its possible attack." He laughs again, kneels, breaks off the other bolt, and slides the pin. "Ahhh this is perfect," he says and holds up the large piece of metal, inspecting it closely, for sharp edges or ragged bits that could possibly cut Sookie.

"Now I just need something to secure her tightly onto it. It will do us no good to tie her to it and then have her sliding around. That would totally defeat the purpose. This hatch is much larger than your little Sookie, so even if we tie her with rope to it she could still slide around. Do you have any ideas?"

I narrow my eyes at him and look him over carefully, and suddenly I realize what he is doing. Stephan may be emotionally distraught, but he has never been this dense. That little bastard is trying to distract me so that I don't dwell on all of the "what if's". This is why I wanted him to stay and not Pam**;** Pam and I would have just been utterly useless together. Her angst would have fed my own, and I would have gotten to the point where I couldn't think straight and I wouldn't be able to act rationally about anything. Stephan on the other hand knows exactly what I need in every situation, and knows just the way to calm me down and make me think things out, even if I REALLY don't want to be calm.

"Let's slide Sookie onto it, I have an idea but I need to use her as a frame of reference." We carry the hatch over and Stephan kneels next to Sookie and looks up at me, clearly waiting for further instruction. "Alright, I am going to lift her just enough for you to get the metal underneath her, but be quick; the longer I hold her the more likely the chance that I will accidently jostle her, all right?"

He simply nods and waits, poised and ready to slide the metal underneath her the moment she is up high enough for it to be done. I position my hands at her hips and shoulder blade, ready to slide them under as soon as I give the signal. "Alright, on three, one… two… three…" I quickly, but gently, lift Sookie up off the ground, and I take great care as to not jostle her in any way. Vampires can be still as the grave without even trying, half the time we do it and don't even realize it, and we don't have those little human habits because after a few decades we just forget to do them. We don't have to blink, or shift our weight, or fidget, or itch, or any such nonsense; over the years I have had various occasions where my life depended on my being utterly still, but never have I had to remain so still and gentle so that the love of my life would not be injured further.

Stephan slides the metal into place as quick as lighting, and I gently lay Sookie into place in the center of the makeshift stretcher. I don't think she would have even noticed being moved if she had been awake during it. "Stephan, in the cargo-hold I have my emergency bag, bring it here please. Actually, just grab all of our bags if you can manage it, but I definitely need my emergency bag."

"On it," he says and zips off, disappearing as quick as wink through the now door-less hatch that leads down into the belly of the plane. I turn back to the metal and look at it closely. This was not going to be pleasant at all, but it would be worth it if it would keep Sookie safe. I place my fingertips on the cool metal at Sookie's side, just below the line of her breasts, and push my fingers through the metal. It groaned and complained but it eventually gives underneath the pressure of my fingertips. I bit my tongue to hold back the curses that want to so desperately pour from my lips.

I pull my fingers back and inspect them. Fucking hell, they are cut badly and I think I busted both my knuckles. If I was not trying to be so gentle there would have been far less damage, but with the situation being what it is, I don't have a lot of choices here and there is no way I am asking Stephan to do this.

I try my best to ignore the pain as I slowly make my way down the right side of her body and back up the left, spacing the holes six inches or so apart. I was just pushing through the last hole when Stephan came back into the cabin. "What in the name of Odin are you doing Eric?"

"What does it look like?" I snap at him**.** "I am creating holes in the metal so that we can thread the rope around her body and secure her better. You don't think I am doing this for the pure enjoyment, do you? Because you know how much I love to torture and maim myself." I roll my eyes at him and he just huffs in response.

He stomps across the cabin, drops my bag next to me, and throws himself on the couch, just as the mystery vampire from Queen Clarissa's compound makes his way onto the plane. "Sheriff Northman," he says, nodding his head in respect.

"Yes," I say and look up at him. He is fairly short. Well, everyone is short compared to me, but I don't think he is much more then 5'9". He is fairly muscular in form, a broad chest that seems to be well defined underneath his Nirvana t-shirt; his jeans match the grunge look, faded blue, beat-up denims that have strategic holes, placed in them all the way down the front. A dingy looking green flannel is tied around his waist and he wears a green beanie on his head to complete the look. Someone should tell him that the grunge look went out of fashion in 1994. If Pam were here she would be openly mocking him, despite the fact that he is here to help.

His skin is fairly dark; it is the beautiful russet gold that a lot of Native American's have, and the color of his skin had hardly taken on any paling over his centuries. His long black hair is pulled back into a braid and partially hidden by his beanie, giving the illusion that it is short, when from what I can see, if it was unbound it would go well below his bottom. He has those sharp cheekbones that all Native American's seem to have, but the really intriguing thing about our mystery vamp is the fact that his eyes are not brown, like most people of Native American or Latino decent. No, his eyes are a beautiful jade green color. He is actually quite striking, almost beautiful, instead of ruggedly handsome, like most men.

"My name is Jacob Atwater, I am Queen Clarissa's second. She sent me to escort you back to her compound and she asked me to offer you any assistance you may need in order to help make this happen." His voice matches his beauty, a light yet deep musical voice that you want to smile to whenever you hear it. I can't seem to help myself, I am openly staring at him and am not even ashamed of doing so. For one, I have never met a vampire of Native American decent before, for another he is just so… so… striking. I shake my head a little to cast off the charismatic nature of Jacob Atwater and look over at my brother, he seems to be just as taken with him as I am.

Jacob laughs lightly and I find myself smiling at his amusement, I just can't help myself. "Now you see why I wear the grunge look," he says and laughs again. "Most humans won't and don't give me a second glance when they see someone walking about in this ridiculous outfit."

"I apologize most sincerely, it is just that, well, you are very handsome, not to mention the fact that I know I have never encountered a Native American vampire before. It just seems like your people always tend to find a way to avoid such a thing from occurring," I say and shake my head, again being drawn into his magnetism and becoming distracted.

"Well, there is that one vampire you told me about Eric, what was his name, umm Longshadow? Yes that was it, and didn't he want to buy into your bar or something?" Stephan says.

"Yes, but the word through the grapevine is that he isn't really a Native American. Some of my contacts told me that he just pretends to be Native American because the general population is drawn to oddities. For them, or at least this is what I have been told, a Native American ranks up there with foreign accents. Women, men, everyone goes nuts for the unknown. As if being a vampire wasn't enough of a wild card, I just don't understand why you would pretend to have an accent or be of a different decent to attract a willing bed partner."

Jacob laughs. "Some are not as fortunate as yourself, I would imagine, and actually have to work at bedding another."

If I could blush I would have; his compliment doesn't embarrass but I am very flattered by it. Wait, what the fuck is going on? There is something not right. Again I notice that I am drawn to this unknown vampire like iron is drawn to a magnet. It is almost, magical.

He walks over and squats next to me and looks down at Sookie. He looks back to me and notices I am staring again and he winks at me. He actually fucking winked at me. "Don't worry about your feelings Sheriff; I get it all the time. It is part of my charm. Well that and I have extras. There isn't much anyone can do to avoid it. I am sure it is much worse for your brother than it is for you, seeing as how you have found your soul mate and your brother is still adrift at sea." He smiles kindly at me and turns back to Sookie. "Now what can we do to get her onto the helicopter and safely to the compound?"

"Wait… did you say soul mate?"

"Ummhmm."

"Are you sure, I mean, how do you know this?"

He tilts his head back and forth as if contemplating his answer. "A little of this a little of that." He places his hand on Sookie's chest and closes his eyes. "Fortunately none of her arteries were severed when the stake went in, but it is pressing on one. We will have to be careful when we remove it." He opens his eyes and looks at me and I find that I almost drown in the sea of endless jade**.** I am so comforted and loved that I don't want to leave this happy place. "The only thing holding her here is you Sheriff. It is important that you stay close to her until she wakes. I am afraid of the consequences if you travel too far away. When we reach the compound I will arrange for you to have a room that the two of you can share and you will not have to worry about being secure." He turns away and looks back at Sookie. The connection we are sharing may not be as intense, but I can still feel it lingering in the back of my mind.

"Now," he says and claps his hands together and rubs them back and forth as if to warm them up, "what is it that we need to do to get this little one ready to go?"

Stephan decides to take point seeing as how I am still slightly stunned from whatever whammy Jacob laid on me. This can't be good right? I am getting ready to go into an unknown nest of vampires and the second is so powerful that he has me mewing like a kitten without doing anything. "As you can see Eric and I have made a makeshift stretcher. Eric put some holes into so that we can bind Sookie down with rope so that she doesn't shift around too much during transport. I think that if we both lift up the stretcher it will be much easier for Eric to thread the rope."

He nods in agreement; I can actually see him thinking things over when he shouts, "Wait!", looking from Stephan and back to me. Stephan and I both flinch at his sudden and unexpected outburst.

"What, what's the matter?" I ask.

"Did he say Sookie?" he asks.

"Yes, my wife's name is Sookie."

"As in Sookie Stackhouse? As in her Royal Highness, Princess Susannah Stackhouse, the savior of hundreds of Supes, and the peacemaker to us all?" I am having troubles deciphering the emotions that are rapidly pouring across his face. It seems to be a mix of terror, awe, and I think wonderment.

"Umm… yes? But don't let her hear you call her Princess**,** she hates it."

"Unbelievable. Your wife is Sookie Stackhouse." He shakes his head back and forth in disbelief. "Who did this to her?" he asks and suddenly I can read the emotion on his face as plain as day, utter and complete rage.

"Compton, her ex," I say and Jacob narrows his eyes in irritation.

"I do not know him, but I assure you when you finally go on the hunt I will be at your side. I swear on my ancestors, this vermin that dared to harm a single hair on the Princess's head will pay."

"Thank you," I nod.

"Come on," he says**,** his joking and light nature completely gone**.** "Time is of the essence**.** Let us get her secured and onto the helicopter."

Stephan and Jacob lift Sookie's stretcher and I quickly yet carefully thread rope in and out of the holes. Ropes that I just so happened to have in my "emergency bag". I always liked the Boy Scout saying 'Always be prepared'. I took it to heart and now I carry a bag around with various things in it for every possible situation. I fuss at the ropes to ensure that she isn't going to go anywhere midflight, until I am absolutely satisfied that she is secure.

"She will be fine brother. Come on, let's get her onboard the helicopter." I just nod and follow him and Jacob toward the awaiting chopper. I watch helplessly as Sookie is slid into position and we all climb in after her. Jacob sits right by her side, almost guarding her, like a faithful puppy or something. It is really strange and curious to me. First, he is Native American, then he has the weird magnetism, and then there is the fact that he knows Sookie by name and is taking her protection as seriously as I would. This night just keeps weirder and weirder. I am positive that it will only get worse before it gets better too.

We are about half way through our flight when I heard someone singing. "_Dirty babe, you see these shackles, baby I'm your slave, I'll let you whip me if I misbehave, It's just that no one makes me feel this way._"

I look around confused; no one in the helicopter is moving their lips. Where the hell is that coming from? I notice my brother grinning and he nods towards my pocket. I reach into my pocket and pull out Sookie's phone as it continues to sing the most annoying song I have ever heard in my life. Why in the world Sookie would choose this as a ringtone I can't figure out. "_I'm bringing sexy back, yeah, them other fuckers watch how I attack, yeah, if that's your girl better watch your back, yeah, cause she'll burn it up for me and that's a fact…_"

I throw the phone open cutting off the song, thankfully, and growl my greeting. "Hello."

"Northman, it's Russell."

Now I am even more confused. Why would Sookie have such a suggestive song assigned as Russell's ringtone? "Why does my wife have a song about bringing sexy back and being her slave assigned as her ringtone for you Russell? Is there something that you need to tell me about your relationship with my wife?" I cannot help my verbal diarrhea; tonight has been trying enough already and hearing that song is just not helping matters any.

Russell laughs. "Eric, I had no idea that she had that song as my ringtone, but it shouldn't really surprise me. We have a kind of ongoing joke about that song. That really doesn't matter at the moment though now does it?"

I sigh**.** "No, is there a reason you called? I am midflight and even with my hearing I am having issues with this call."

"Ray Don and I will be landing in fifteen, twenty tops. We will meet you at Queen Clarissa's compound. I spoke to her and she said she was unsure if she had anyone there with the same ability as Ray Don's, but she told me that she was going to ask around though. I have heard things about her nest, but nothing has ever been confirmed. I am positive that if she cannot aid you with removing the stake that she will be able to help keep Sookie comfortable until we arrive."

"Good. How did you manage to get here so quickly?"

"Oh you know me darlin', a little of this a little of that, besides I think you are underestimating how much time has actually passed since we first spoke**,**" he giggles**.** He actually fucking giggles.

"Actually, I think you are thinking of Sookie with the whole 'you know me' thing because that comment just confuses me completely. Russell, did you not tell them who we were? When Clarissa's second came to get us he was shocked about who my wife was."

"No, I did not think to mention her name. I didn't really think it mattered. If they didn't know then your king must not have said anything either. Was his reaction negative?"

I look over at Jacob, he is kneeling next to Sookie, his palms placed on her forehead, his eyes closed, and I could see his lips moving. I cannot make out what he is saying but I think he must be praying. "No not negative, just odd."

"Odd how Eric?" he asks. I try and figure out a way of explaining what happened so that I could get Russell's feedback without being completely obvious. I am sure that Jacob can at least make out my side of the conversation, no matter how noisy the helicopter is.

"He must be sitting near you."

"Yes," I say. "We are still in the helicopter, didn't I already say that?"

"So you did, I am just a little slow this evening."

"You're not the only one," I snort. "Apparently I have forgotten how to tell time."

"Yes well at least you have a valid excuse; I am just slipping in my old age."

I laugh at that. "Russell, if you are old then I must be ancient because you are half my age."

"Well that is very true, GRANDPA." He giggles again, but this time I chuckle along with him. It feels really good to lighten my mood. This must be why Sookie is friends with him. He is really good at taking your mind off of a stressful situation. After a few moments we both return back to reality**.** "What can you tell me Eric? We can always talk more when I get there but it is good to have a little information before I land."

"He is Indian, I am unsure which tribe, but I am not so forward as to ask either." Jacob's eyes open and he smiles at me. Once again I am drawn into that smile and feel completely comfortable with him. I can't help but to smile back at him. "He has a very magnetic personality as well, I trust him completely."

"Wait, what? You wouldn't trust your own mother and you are telling me that after meeting him what ten minutes ago that you trust him completely?"

"That is exactly what I am saying."

"Is it his gift?"

"I think so."

"Hmm… well I told you that I have heard some strange things about Clarissa's nest. She is relatively new to the crown, but she has one of the best-run areas. No one that I know of has stepped foot into her nest, but there are rumors that they all wield some form of magic. She also never leaves, ever. From what I understand, she and her whole nest lived just outside of Albuquerque in some small little hole in the wall, and when she took over as Queen after the great reveal, the entire town she lived in went with her. I guess we will just have to take a wait and see attitude here and pray to whatever God's we believe in that she isn't some traitorous bitch. Now really isn't the time for it, we need peace not treachery."

"I agree," I say and Jacob clears his throat.

"We will be landing in two minutes," he says and I nod in acknowledgement.

"Russell, we are about to land, I will see you soon yes?"

"Yes my boy you will, keep your eyes open and watch your back."

"Oh believe me I will. By the way, when you get here we need to talk about Sookie's relatives, I need some advice."

"That doesn't sound good."

"Somehow, I doubt it is ever good when it comes to dealing with him."

Russell sighs. "Yes, he has been quite troublesome at times, I must admit. All right, I will see you soon."

I disconnect the call and look at Jacob; of course he is smiling again. "You having troubles with your in-laws?" he asks.

"In a manner of speaking."

"Hmm, it really doesn't surprise me. Niall, he can be thoughtless. He has his own priorities and always puts them first, no matter the cost to anyone else."

To say that I am stunned is a bit of an understatement. "How did you…"

"Know who her realities are?" He rolls his beautiful green eyes; I am really starting to hate the annoying human habit that all vampires everywhere seem to have picked up on. "Come on now Sheriff, is it really that big of a surprise? I know who she is, I know she is a Fae Princess, why would I not know her lineage?"

I narrow my eyes at him. I may trust him for some inexplicable reason but I did NOT like how much knowledge he had about us, when we have none about him. "Why would you know in the first place? I did not even know. From my understanding it is not common knowledge."

"Oh I am positive that it isn't," he says and shrugs his broad shoulders, and turns to look out over the landscape. Apparently our conversation is over. I didn't have any answers, only more questions and I am starting to become more and more irritated about the situation. I do NOT like being unprepared and that is exactly what I am in this moment. Completely unprepared in a situation where I am completely vulnerable. Jacob and his Queen will have me and mine at their mercy, and if they are untrustworthy or devious in any way, we are completely and totally fucked.


	16. The Winner is

Dear Awesome Readers,

So, may I just say I am humbled by the amazing amount of support, that some how is still there after two years, you all have shown me. I am touched to say the least. So, the big results. Bam bam bam, in second place was Learning to Live Again and in first place ... is a darn tie between Shadows of Doubt and The Dance. Serriously, it was a dead heat for both stories through the whole week plus I gave y'all. Which means I have to decide. I am torn to be honest, but I looked over the first three chapters of both stories and I think I know what direction one is going more then the other. So It will be The Dance. I am going to start review chapter's and see what I can do this weekend. I will keep all of you updated. It might take some time to get through everything and start the process of the next chapter, but I promise that I am going to be working on it. I will try to keep you all updated at least once a week as to where I am at. I know some people find authors notes annoying, but well, the one thing I have always loved about this site is that I can actually reach out to all of you and have real conversations with you. Let you know where I am and what is going through my head. Even if I ramble a bit. (Blame Red Bull) So, while all of you are wating on tenter hooks for whats gonna happen next, may I humbly suggest a distraction. Go here ericizmine index/the-multi-verse/ Just take out the spaces. This is one of my all time favorite fan fic authors. I am sure some or most of you have heard of EricIz Mine a.k.a. Angela but if you haven't you should check her out. She is amazingly talented, in fact her work is the hole I have hidden in during this last two years. She has an amazing spin on how Eric and Sookie couldv'e shoulv'e wouldv'e. Start with Bored to Death. So that is all for now, my beloved readers. You will be hearing from me again soon.

Much love, as always, from the west coast,

Lilli


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